Brothers
by merick
Summary: When Heimdall locates Loki in Midgard Thor goes in search of his brother, wanting to reunite his family and his loved ones, while still fulfilling his oaths to the realm. Adult situations of violence and intimacy will be part of the story.
1. Chapter 1

Welcome to my first attempt at a Thor FF. Firstly a disclaimer that I am not Scandinavian, and that I'm trying my best to get the basic mythology correct, so please forgive me if I slip up here and there. I have based this story on the recent movie, placing it after the destruction of the Bifrost, but before the Avengers are formed.

Credit for the characters goes to Marvel Comics and the ancient texts. I hope I can do them both a modicum of justice.

Please read, and please send your comments, they can only make the story, and my writing better.

Merick

"He misses her." She let her hands rest on the railing, just warmed by the sun's fading rays.

"He misses more than just that my wife." Her husband stood beside her, he had shed most of his gleaming armor, but still looked every part the king that he was.

"Can Asgard bore him that much now?" She could not hide the sadness in her voice.

"It is perhaps not Asgard so much as its confinement, physically and spiritually."

"Since the destruction of the Bifrost." She sighed. Frigga did not have to state the obvious. Though their realm was vast and offered great distractions and joys, it was also a prison, no matter how beautiful, for the young who craved adventure: a group she counted her son among. These times were even more difficult now, now that he was taking on the mantle of his father, the All-Father. Leadership came at great cost personally and though he was strong in both heart and body; and to a much greater degree recently, wisdom, it was not yet his time to take the yoke that Odin bore. Perhaps it might never be; the specter of Ragnarok ever present in her thoughts.

But there were more pressing concerns that Frigga could see as she stood by her husband on their vast balcony, overlooking the sunset tinged environs, the fragments of the rainbow bridge, and the silhouette of their son walking its lengths again.

Thor's steps were heavy and slow, there was urgency in his heart, but that was as far as it progressed. Each day there was progress to be seen, but it was painfully slow as such things could be. The Bifrost had not been built in a day, neither would it be repaired in one. But each night he would walk the newly completed span and stop at its terminus to speak to Heimdall who watched over all the realms. And each night Heimdall would turn his gaze to Midgard for his friend, and would speak to him about Jane. Every night would begin in the same way. 'She still searches for you.' And Thor's mighty heart would be rent anew. Heimdall would speak of her efforts to find a path to Asgard, and Thor would continue to be heartened by her brilliance. The conversation would end as Heimdall relayed any message that Jane might have spoken to the firmament: for sometimes she did such things. Thor could not understand how she knew that Heimdall would be watching, or how she could even know that the bridge had been shattered and that that was the reason he had not returned. Her patience had to have been borne on the connection that he himself still felt, a connection forged in the same fires as Mjolnir it seemed. It was as much a part of him as the hammer itself and its absence, or rather hers, caused the same uncomfortable ache.

This night however was different. Though Heimdall stood, as he always did, staring out over the starry abyss, sword clasped at the pommel, blade pointed to the earth from which it was forged; his words were different.

"I am glad you have come Thor." The deep monotone did not change with emotion, or surprise. Heimdall was stoic.

"Heimdall?"

"Something is amiss."

Thor felt the muscles in his arms and chest immediately tighten; his feet planted the ground more firmly, his fingers flexed, waiting for the grasp of Mjolnir.

"Tell me." He did not ask after Jane, or Midgard, but asked after the realm because it was his duty.

"I believe I have found Loki."

The words hung in the air.

"My brother?"

Loki had no difficulty concealing himself, even from Heimdall's all seeing gaze and it had been many months since he had eschewed his brother's desperate offer of help back from the brink, physically and metaphorically, and had instead chosen oblivion. Thor had never believed that he could be dead; Loki was far too clever for that. Where Loki had finally come to rest though, had been the source of many nights of speculation; alone with a tankard of ale, looking into the blackness. Thor had hoped that it had not been the devastated Jotunheim; he feared his brother would be completely lost there, drawn into a heritage that was no longer his, or that he would be held to account for what he had tried to do there. Thor always held out hope that he would return to his family.

"Where is he friend Heimdall?" Thor asked, bracing himself for the worst news.

"I believe he is in Midgard, and I believe the casket is there as well."

A multitude of possibilities ran through Thor's mind in the split second that it took for him to draw in breath. His brother was alive, and his brother might be in search of the casket and the power that it could bring him; though his motives were yet murky. His presence in Midgard could threaten those people he had sworn to the SHEILD agent to protect; Jane included.

"We must tell the All-Father."

"Indeed."

There was no question of Heimdall leaving his post, even without the gateway proper to guard, he remained steadfast in his duties. Thor went instead, in search of Odin, a true reason for urgency finally presenting itself to him.

He did not throw the doors to the throne room open in anger, but his purpose-driven motions caused a mighty crash and startled his mother, who was standing at one of the many windows, while his father occupied the throne as he often did, lost in contemplation of many things.

"Thor!" She called out, not in a scolding way, but her voice laced with concern for whatever had caused his actions.

"Forgive me Mother, Father, but I bring news from Heimdall. News of Loki."

"Loki?" The gasp betrayed her emotions. She had felt the absence of her youngest son like a fist around her heart from the day he had fled her presence, shame and grief filling his eyes. She had forgiven him the moment he had looked at her, the pain written in his face, but her entreaty had not been enough to keep him with her. Odin sprang from his chair, gathering his cloak around himself.

"Then we will go and speak with him." He said nothing further to his wife, but breezed past Thor who fell in step behind his father. The action was typical for the All-Father, though his steps seemed almost as driven as his son, as far as Thor could see. It was a small crack in the armor that Odin wore. Thor could see it, so could Frigga, but neither spoke of it, not even with each other. Odin could feel the pain, but they left him to it.

"Bring my son home." Frigga called after them both, wringing her hands together, feeling the first measure of hope she had in months, for both her sons.


	2. Chapter 2

A sincere thanks for everyone who wrote, added alerts and fav's for this story. I have tried to write back to everyone but I apologize if I have missed anyone. Please know that hearing from you has been wonderful.

Here is our second chapter, again, a disclaimer that I do not own any of these characters and that I am simply taking them out to play.

Merick

Part 2

"The casket resides in the hands of an organization that calls itself SHIELD." Thor nodded, recalling the men who had first tried to stop Jane, and who had then put her in their service, recognizing her talents. They were brave men who had stood against the defender when Loki had sent it to destroy him. Thor also remembered his admiration of them, and their purpose. Heimdall continued his story when bidden by Odin, his king. "I have had glimpses of it, though someone is attempting to shield its exact location from me." His deep, monotone voice emphasized the seriousness of the situation.

"Loki." Thor whispered.

"I believe as much my prince. There is a scientist, one of the men who has worked with Jane Foster, he is called Eric Selvig. He has been asked to examine the casket, but as I have watched him, I have seen times when he seems to understand more of the device than he should. And just as suddenly that knowledge seems to flee from him. I believe that he is under the control of Loki."

"To what end do the humans seek knowledge of the casket?" Thor asked his father, wanting to put all the pieces in place. He had learned that rushing to conclusions was not the most prudent method of action; and that there was no shame in asking a question to garner information from another. He had left his pride in the New Mexico desert, and a measure of his foolhardiness as well.

"It is to the same end as all the others who have taken it. They believe that if they can harness its power that they will have an advantage over their enemies."

"All but you Father." Thor noted.

Odin nodded slowly. Ever since his acquisition of the casket from the Jotun, Odin had kept it sealed away, guarded by the magic of Asgard, so that none would be tempted by it, none but Loki.

"Do they have the ability to direct its power?"

"They are our kin, separated only by time, it is by no means inconceivable that one of them could summon its magics."

"Loki himself may offer them the key, as a method to gain their trust."

"Another possible outcome my son."

The two men stared into the abyss, as if they could glimpse some of what Heimdall related, pondering the implications of their own statements about kin. Odin's forehead wrinkled and his shoulders sagged with the burden of his knowledge.

"He must not be allowed to do this Thor." His heart was heavy as he spoke. He had no wish to send one of his sons against the other, but it seemed that again there was little choice.

"Then I too will jump from the Bifrost, and hope that my landing takes me to Midgard, where I may stop my brother." A hand on his forearm held Thor back from the edge.

"There may be another way Thor." His father's voice was calm, and his words resonated with ancient wisdom as he turned from his son, back to his loyal friend. "Thank you Heimdall for your continued service to the realm."

Heimdall bowed silently to his king and then his prince and finally cast his all-seeing eyes outwards. The other two men turned, again Thor falling in step behind his father, his mind still unsettled, but with a warmth in his heart that somehow he might yet return to Midgard to find his brother, and fulfill his promise to Jane, and Agent Coulson, to be the protector of their world, as once his father had been.

"Yggdrasil offers many branches to travel between the worlds; though they remain hidden to most, unless sought out by great need or by magic." Odin spoke as he walked, not looking back to his son, but knowing that Thor would hear every word, and understand every nuance.

"Such were the paths that Loki used to make his bargains with the Jotun."

"And he opened them with the strength of his desires."

"My desires are no less powerful than his Father."

"I know this to be true my son, but your powers are different. Mjolnir is not a subtle weapon, and such things open hidden pathways far more easily. You will take Sleipnir. His footing will be steady and will deliver you to Midgard quickly." The eight-legged beast was the pride of Odin's stables, and had ridden to Hel and back with the All-Father, he feared no mortal or immortal. His connection to Loki was also not lost on Thor, not that the gods spoke of his birth very often. It had been a calculated action on Loki's part, and no more was said.

The men strode through the ground floor hallways of the palace, now lit by torches, the sun having set fully, not stopping for anything, not that anyone would dare to interfere in the path of the All-Father and the prince. They bore determined looks on both their faces, minds racing with the task at hand and how it might be accomplished. They passed straight through to the stables at the outer courtyard of the building, servants bowing their heads respectfully and opening the vast doors. Odin's stables were massive, he had hundreds of horses, enough to carry a vast army of his warriors to any corner of the realm, but no horse was as strong, or as large as Sleipnir, and Odin insisted on saddling the beast himself, dismissing his groom with nothing but a look.

"My son," He began, knowing Thor would understand his implied haste. Though Loki had been in Midgard for many months, his actions had suddenly drawn the interest of Heimdall, and Odin knew that meant that Loki was either becoming reckless out of frustration, or purpose, either motivation indicating that whatever his plan was, that it was growing close to action. "The safety of all the realms lies in returning that casket to Asgard, where it can be kept from evil action."

"I understand Father."

"But Loki is your brother, if anyone besides your mother can make him listen to reason and return to his family it is you. Please Thor, bring him home."

Odin rarely let his emotions show, and Thor understood that when he did it was a great gesture, and one of pure honesty. Loki was loved and missed, even though Odin could not acknowledge it publically. Other denizens of Asgard did not understand what had driven Loki to do as he did, and they held him responsible for pushing them to the edge of war again. They were not wrong, but they were guided only by their anger. Odin had not spoken out against his youngest son, but he was one of the few. Even the warriors three and Sif had made their opinions known while Odin and Thor had remained mum.

"For your mother Thor." Were Odin's words as he handed the reins to his eldest son. It was understood what was meant. Hammer slung at his hip, Thor stepped into the stirrup and cast his leg over the broad back of the horse, taking up the reins in both hands and patting the beast's withers solidly. He watched as the horse bent his neck to Odin, to receive some whispered communication, then with a whinny and a toss of his head he turned in his stall and stepped out into the vast stable proper, taking his charge to the pathway.

"I shall see you soon Father."

"You have only to call out to Heimdall and we will send horses for you and your brother to return home. Ride safely my son, and beware you do not stop for anything on your journey. The hidden pathways hold their own dangers and temptations. Be not dissuaded from your purpose."

"I shall ride swiftly Father."

Sleipnir's steady footfall turned to a canter, and as he emerged from the building, quickly accelerated to a gallop. The night wind blew through Thor's hair; he had not thought to tie it back that day, not having expected any of what had transpired. The citizens of Asgard stopped their tasks to watch as he passed; speculating on what his purpose might be astride the mighty warhorse, riding outside the city, his eyes focused on something they could not guess at. They could only remark at the fire within them, and wonder if he was off on some noble quest; one that would be told of in song for generations.

Thor had never been prideful enough to believe that he knew every corner of Asgard. In truth in was a vast land, and his life to that point had taken him to many parts of it, but certainly not all. With the speed of his horse he was quickly beyond the great golden city at its heart and rushing across fields where he had played as a child, and learned to hone his skills with his brother Loki, and his brothers and sister in arms, Fandral, Hogun, Volstagg and Sif. They had ranged far on their adventures but Sleipnir took him even farther, at a pace that never varied, not until they came a grove of trees, hours into their journey, an ancient grove that once you crossed into nearly blocked out the sky. Only then did the steed slow, and take more careful steps. Thor understood that the passage was there and squinted into the blackness for a sign.

It came as his horse brushed against the largest tree trunk of the copse, and Thor felt the odd sensation of being drawn into a different air mass than the warmth and dry of the Asgard night; suddenly it was all gone. What rose was the dank taste and feel of moss and rot and the vision of a bioluminescence that seemed to spring from the very walls of the passage Thor now found himself in. If Yggdrasil truly was a tree, then this was its root system. Lichen and tendrils seemed to hang from the roof of the place, with hair-like projections from every twisted branch. Sleipnir began to pick his way forward, still steady, but more wary. Thor could see the glimmer of eyes seeming to appear from the earth around them, but he kept his own focused straight ahead, and kept his hand off the pommel of Mjolnir. As the horse ducked, so did he, avoiding contact with all but the smallest and most invasive of the roots. He busied his mind with plans of how he would find his brother, and what he would say to him to convince him to leave off any evil plans he had in Midgard, and to return home. He also allowed thoughts of Jane to creep into his heart, thoughts he had been holding in check, knowing that the importance of his task was not to find her, and kindle a connection he had felt since he had left her behind. But since SHIELD figured in all of this, he knew that seeing her would be permissible in the course of his quest, and he knew that his Father and Mother would understand; especially his Mother who had asked no end of questions about the woman he tried to avoid speaking about.

It seemed a great deal of time had passed to Thor as the two picked their way through the close passage. The silence, beyond the footfall of the horse was beginning to play tricks on his mind he thought, as voices seemed to rise from the walls themselves.

"God of Thunder." Was the low whisper he picked out, words that were repeated over and over, slowly until he was quite certain that his mind was not playing tricks on him, and that someone, or something was calling to him

"Stop and speak for awhile God of Thunder, prince of Asgard."

Thor dug his knees into the flanks of his mount, urging him forward.

"You go to seek Loki, prince of Jotunheim and Asgard." The voices goaded him. "Stop and let us prophesize for you."

He continued forward in silence.

"Will you not stop and hear how your brother tries to seduce the Lady Jane. Will you not stop and hear how she speaks with him?"

Thor's knuckles whitened with his hold on the reins. Heimdall had not spoken of any such relationship. Could he have not seen it? He was all-seeing, but that did not mean that he saw all of what transpired in every world. Could Loki have been hiding his attempts to corrupt Jane to his ways? He could offer such scientific threads as might interest her. But no, she continued to seek him, Thor, her heart was pure. She spoke to the stars for his ears alone. He would not let the voices of the hags draw him into leaving the path, for then he would surely be lost. He kept his hand steady, and tried to quiet a heart that wished to do nothing more than take the mighty Mjolnir and crush the heads of those who tried to turn his heart and mind to poison. With a deep breath he again urged Sleipnir forwards.

**Next chapter, a look into Jane's world**


	3. Chapter 3

Thank you so much to everyone who took the time to read my last chapter and to write a review. Those little blips in my inbox made me so happy. I sure hope you enjoy a little view of Jane and Loki now.

Merick

Part 3

Jane Foster held the pint glass in her right hand, the condensation was pooling around her fingers and it slipped just a little as she brought it up off the bar and to her lips to have a drink. She didn't want to be at the bar, but Darcy had insisted. It was Friday, it had been a busy week; less time in the lab than in the field, which was how Jane preferred it, but still making for long nights and early mornings. It was a wonder; Jane thought to herself, that Darcy had even held on as long as she had. It had to be more than enjoying the pay raise the contract with SHIELD had allowed Jane to give her, but it certainly wasn't the dust and the dirt of the deserts and prairies they travelled, and it wasn't New Mexico, where they always returned to. For her companionship alone she knew it was worth a trip to the local, once or twice a month, even if Jane mostly sat at the bar and sipped at her beer while Darcy danced her heart out. There was a lightness to the girl that Jane envied, not that she would admit it, to be that carefree again. It had been so long since Jane had given in to any form of abandon like the whirling, jean clad, boot decked Darcy was giving to the dance floor. She sighed and took another sip of her drink. There had been one moment, one moment since she had broken up with her boyfriend that stuck in her head as simple bliss, well, perhaps two, and they both involved the same person.

Sitting on the roof of that abandoned restaurant she had turned into a base of operations with Thor and having him sketch out Yggdrasil, linking together all the worlds she had hypothesized about for so long; his validation of her work with something so ancient had made her tremble with the implications. The second moment had been the kiss, when he had taken her hand so gallantly and kissed it, and she had responded with her desperate lip lock; so generally uncharacteristic of herself she acknowledged. She had felt then the loss of his absence, and even his promise to return could not console her feelings. She had searched, looking for the key in the atmospheric storms that seemed to rock such desert places, always wondering if she had been a fool to let her heart's shield slip so quickly for his knowledge and his presence. He had not returned in all these months. She did not wish to mourn his death because she could not believe that he had died. She just felt that she would know it somehow if he were gone. But that thought brought more introspection about just how foolish she might truly be. The work kept her mind clear; directions from Agent Coulson, concentrating on formulas, driving through dust devils and storms. It was something to think about besides him, and why he had never returned.

She had another sip of her drink and let the beat of the dance music echo in her head; there was simplicity in the staccato math that helped her focus, everything came down to science for her, except her heart, but sometimes even science could quiet the nagging emptiness in it. Tonight though, was not one of those nights. The thought of ordering something stronger than beer crossed her mind, but she knew she would pay for it in the morning, just as Eric had done with Thor; again images of him and their brief time together invaded and she tried to choke them down.

He watched her stiffen suddenly at the bar, the muscles in her back tightening for a split second then sagging again with what he imagined was a heavy sigh. He had been watching her for a great many weeks but so far had not approached her. His time was growing short though, he had put too many things in place now, one or two more actions would set the game in motion, she was not a pivotal player in it, but had circulated the periphery for a great while, and his brother's interest in her made Loki interested in her. She might be the one to open the bifrost again, or find another, more pleasant way of travel than the roots of the great tree with their denizens; none of which were particularly disposed to him at that time. He had followed her and Darcy to the bar, and easily entered, unmolested. The small town had so many new faces now a days that another man in a trench coat meant nothing; another 'man in black' for the conspiracy theorists, another open wallet for the more pragmatic. Loki liked the human trench coat style, it reminded him of the cloaks he had left behind in Asgard. It was helpful for concealing yourself, when simply vanishing was out of the question, and it conveyed a power and a style Loki had always seen as his birthright. He was wearing it that night as he approached Jane Foster at the bar, sitting down beside her, leaving one empty stool between them. He ordered a single malt; another benefit of all the new government agents in the small town, decent liquor, downed it, and ordered another. He looked over at the woman.

"You look like you could use a drink?" He offered, holding up his own glass in a salute of sorts.

"I have one thank you." She replied, not angrily, but with a good measure of courtesy.

"I get the sense it's been a long week for you as well?" Loki watched as she turned up the right side of her mouth in a half smile at his comment.

"They're all long." She answered, not looking at him, her gaze seeming to be a million miles away in the whorls and patterns of the bar top.

"Agent Coulson can really push you some days eh?" Her forehead crinkled and she turned to look at him not saying anything.

"I work over there too." He hushed his voice a little.

"Where do you work?"

"Well, I could tell you," he started.

"But then you'd have to kill me right? That is about the oldest joke at SHIELD." Then Jane laughed and Loki let a broad smile cross his face as well. He had made his connection.

"My name is Lawrence." He held out his hand.

"Jane." She shook it.

He motioned the bartender to pour them both another drink.

"Really I can't."

"Just one, please, a toast to Agent Coulson."

Jane gave in; she found it was nice to have someone to talk to on a different level than Darcy. It was like how she felt around Eric; but she had been seeing less and less of him lately as Agent Coulson had co-opted him for another project.

"To Agent Coulson then." She held up her glass and let the man she knew as Lawrence tap it with his, then they both drank.

"Have you been with SHIELD long?" She asked.

"About six months."

"Wow, me too."

"It's a small world, or worlds, depending what department you're in." Loki continued to smile at her.

"I'm a physicist." She offered.

"Oh, I heard the funniest physics joke the other day. You aren't easily offended are you?"

"Hardly."

"So there was a physicist walking across campus when a friend and fellow physicist rolls by on a bike. 'Hey', says the first physicist 'where did you get the bike?' 'Funny thing,' he replies,' I was walking across campus yesterday and this woman rides by me on the bike. When she sees me she gets off the bike and throws off all her clothes and says to me, 'take what you like'. So I took the bike.' 'Good choice' says his friend, 'you'd have looked really funny in her clothes'."

Jane couldn't help but giggle, the way Lawrence told the story, his angular face offsetting the smile that showed off two rows of perfect teeth, the long black hair, quite unusual in a government agent, that made him look a little mysterious. She let her barriers down a little, allowing herself to feel happy for a moment without guilt; after all, he was a colleague of sorts.

"Would you like to dance?" He asked; the same charming smile on his face. The offer suddenly made Jane feel nervous.

"I, um, I'm not really much of a dancer. I'm sorry." Her gaze went back to the pattern of wood on the bar. She suddenly felt a little queasy and knew she couldn't look back into the bright blue green eyes that were looking at her.

"Hey Jane, who's your friend?" Jane hadn't even heard the music change tempo, so engaged had she been by Lawrence. Darcy had come up on her, rather between herself and Lawrence, her words addressed to Jane, but her face staring straight at Lawrence. She stuck out her hand.

"Hi. I'm Darcy."

"Lawrence." Loki shook Darcy's hand, trying to look interested in her appearance, but truly feeling rather annoyed that the girl had interrupted his conversation with Jane. He was certain that he could have persuaded her to dance with him but for the interruption.

"Do you want to dance Larry?" Darcy asked, still vibrating from the music.

"Lawrence." Loki corrected her. The chastisement didn't seem to phase her at all. She waited for his answer, smile unchanged.

"Why not?" Loki was nothing, if not flexible. He stood and shrugged out of his long coat, draping it over the chair that had sat between himself and Jane. "Will you watch my coat?" He asked of her.

"Sure." She nodded and swiveled her chair around to watch as Darcy led Lawrence out to the small dance floor. She had to admit that he cut a nice figure. Not like Thor, no, he was more marathon runner than body builder, but he knew how to move as he twirled Darcy around the floor. He didn't wear jeans either, pressed dress pants and solid cotton shirt, which she figured must be warm during the hot New Mexico nights. But he pulled off the look. Jane shook her head and turned away for a moment, blushing at her own thoughts. It had been when he had caught her eyes as he'd been dancing with Darcy, for just a split second she had wondered. And then she came back to herself, wondering what she could possibly have been thinking. He was nice to look at but she didn't feel the instant connection she had felt with Thor, the connection that was now making her heart pound, just thinking about how he had looked in his borrowed jeans, or how regal he had looked in his armor. The vision made her weak in the knees. Her chest fell, and all Jane wanted to do was go home.

When the couple returned from the dance Loki took his coat off the seat and sat himself in its place, to ensure that Darcy wouldn't get in between them again. He had tried to plant some thoughts in Jane's mind as he had caught her watching them on the dance floor, but her mind was surprisingly difficult to push his way into, not like the other humans he had persuaded to do his bidding. It was just another piece of the fascinating puzzle that his brother had left to him.

**Next time, Thor arrives in Midgard.**


	4. Chapter 4

Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to scribble a few words in review of this endeavor. I have tried to answer everyone and I am sorry if I have missed any. I truly appreciate them all.

Merick

Part 4

The end of the tunnel was not well lit, but Thor had a sense that it was nearing. The air felt cleaner suddenly and not as oppressive on his chest. Even Sleipnir's pace had picked up, as he too felt the evil now more behind them than in front, and then, as if they had passed through a palpable veil both found themselves at the foot of a green hill, the night sky opening above them, the cavern behind them. Thor filled his lungs with crisp, cold air and dismounted, turning his head up to see the sky, to try to orient himself as to where he was based on the stars. Sleipnir nickered beside him and tossed his head, mane whipping about as if he was shaking off the aura of the journey.

"Will you remain here Sleipnir, as I search for Loki, or will you return to Asgard to the All-Father?" At the mention of Loki's name the horse's ears perked up, and he nickered again. Thor understood what Sleipnir meant to convey.

"Then keep yourself well hidden. If too many days pass you should return to Asgard. If I cannot stop Loki you will be needed to carry our Father into battle against him." The horse bowed, or at least it seemed that way to Thor. He patted him firmly on the withers and the beast stepped away.

Thor had studied the stars of all the worlds since boyhood, and though he had no doubts of his location, the stars confirmed his arrival in Midgard. The hills, the grass, the crisp air all told him that he was not near New Mexico, the place where Jane was, and where Loki was plying his trade, and so he took to the air, Mjolnir in the lead, willing it to take him to where his brother was, and the woman who had been foremost in his thoughts for months.

He had watched her enter her house, she and Darcy, the younger woman going up the stairs and Jane retreating to a main floor bedroom. Darcy had done her best to seduce him on the dance floor, and it had been a pleasant distraction, but that was all that it was. The girl was drunk, and Loki doubted the sincerity in her offers, and most certainly he did not intend to have sex with her while his true target slept below them. Once they had left the bar he had followed, drawing on his powers to cloak himself in the night. It was a simple matter to wait outside the house until he could hear that both women had fallen into a sleep. Darcy had succumbed to the alcohol and exhaustion of her fevered dancing, Jane, given in to the sorrow it was so easy to read off of her. For a moment at the bar, when they had been speaking, when she had let her guard down to laugh at his jokes, he believed that he could bring her to him with no magics at all. But something had pulled her thoughts away from him, and Loki did not doubt it was the memories of Thor. His brother had always had a way of ingratiating himself to others, an ease of manner so that everyone liked him or loved him. It was just one of the things that so frustrated Loki.

But Thor was nowhere to be seen just then, and was still trapped in Asgard as far as Loki knew. It would not be that way forever, he expected that the All-Father was even now commissioning the reconstruction of the Bifrost. That was why Loki had needed to move so quickly. If the full power of Asgard were brought against him before he had the Casket of Ancient Winters he would have no hope of claiming the throne that was rightly his. He intended to start with the realm of Midgard, and then use its heroes as his army to take Asgard and the throne of his foster father. His birthright had been stolen twice over by Odin, and the depth of his anger fed him.

He stood outside her door, waving his hands over the lock, hearing it slide back and feeling his own heart skip a beat at the sound. Thor wanted this woman, and that made her beyond tempting to Loki. He might not have been able to turn her mind in the bar, but he felt certain that if he could touch her that he could control her easily, and bend her to his desires. She was so close, and a part of her had found him intriguing, he could play on that. He reached out for the door, his mind racing. How would she taste? How would her naked skin feel under his? How would her body envelop his as he filled her? Would she cry out? A chill unrelated to thoughts of her ran the length of his body and he cast his eyes skyward.

"Bloody Hel" He could feel the presence of his brother, suddenly closer than Loki had ever anticipated, in Midgard, and near to New Mexico. He cursed under his breath again, knowing that his physical desires would have to be suppressed for the benefit of his greater plan, though blaming his brother once again for stealing his chances. Again he wrapped himself in invisibility and withdrew to a safe distance. He knew his brother well enough to know that his thoughts would be focused on the woman, and he; Loki, was under no serious threat. He stayed to watch as his brother came to earth raising a cloud of desert dust on her threshold, debating casting a spell over him to make him leave, and then deciding against it. One night of pleasure was not worth losing the chance to spend an eternity as a King.

The house was not familiar to Thor, but the silver trailer parked at its side, and the battered jeep brought back the certainty that Mjolnir had brought him to the correct place. It was late at night, the town around him quite silent. He debated knocking on the door but when he put his hand on the knob he found it unlocked, and he took the chance to open it and step inside, thanking the Norns for their intervention on his behalf.

The house was as quiet as its surroundings, and Thor felt a sudden wave of guilt for his action as he closed the door behind himself and found the means to lock it. It had been a great many months, and though Heimdall had continued to speak to him of Jane and how she called to him, and searched for him, the thought that she might have taken a lover in his absence clutched his heart tightly. How could he have been foolish enough to think that he could simply step back into her life? He let Mjolnir slide slowly from his grasp, leaving it on her dinning table amidst all the papers and journals she had spread there. He took a moment to leaf through the smallest, one he recognized by its tattered corners and elastic fasting. He found the page he had drawn on himself, the sketch of Yggdrasil that linked her worlds. The happiness that he had felt in his heart then, in spite of the banishment he was facing came back to him, and he knew he had to go in search of her, he had to know. He left his cloak and armor with the hammer, and padded quietly around the small main floor of the house. There were only two rooms with doors, the first proving to be a bathroom, and the second, once he steeled his heart with the courage to open it, was a bedroom, occupied by one person, one beautiful, peaceful looking woman, who was deeply asleep.

She was lying near the middle of the bed, one arm wrapped over the covers, holding the blanket to her chest. Thor watched her for a few moments, wanting to wake her, and yet not wanting to because as she slept every possibility was still open to him, foremost the one that she would still want him. But it had been so many months of thinking about her, walking the shattered Bifrost to learn news of her, spending hours alone reliving every memory of her, and he could not help himself but to reach out to touch her skin very softly with his fingertips.

To his great surprise a quiet sigh escaped her lips, though she did not wake, and her hand came over his fingers, clutching them close to her body, pulling him forward to her. He was wholly enchanted by her action and allowed himself permission to lie down beside her carefully, trying not to disturb her slumber. His weight on the mattress caused her to roll just slightly towards him and the nearness of her washed over him as happiness. She sighed again and pulled his arm tighter to her chest. Only after a moment did he feel the previously relaxed muscles of her back, pressed against his shirt, tighten and swiftly she had rolled to face him, eyes wide, but face and mind still addled with sleep.

"Thor?" The word was drawn out as a question as her mind caught up with what her eyes were seeing. He could only smile at her temporary confusion.

"Yes Jane, it is I."

"I thought, I thought you were just another dream." Her brows were knit in uncertainty.

"Have you often had dreams of me holding you as you sleep?" He put the most innocent expression on his face that he could manage, still smiling at her.

"What, hey, wait," consciousness had taken its hold of her fully by then, "It was a dream, dreams," she corrected herself, "you can't blame someone for what they dream about."

"No Jane, you can't." He reached his hand forward and ran it alongside her face, tucking her hair behind her ear and continuing on to cradle the back of her head. Gently he pulled her towards himself, even as he drew closer to her, finally meeting her mouth and kissing her, as he himself had dreamed of doing so many times. She softened into his embrace almost immediately, and pushed her mouth harder against his, wrapping her arms tightly around his back, determined that if he really was a dream that he was not going to escape her that time.


	5. Chapter 5

Part 5

"I've missed you." She whispered as she laid her head against his chest.

"I have missed you as well Jane." He stroked her hair carefully looking into her eyes, seeing the softness there, softness he had not had nearly enough time to explore the first time he had been on Midgard. But it was softness laced with fatigue.

"What happened Thor? Why haven't you been back? All these months?"

"I couldn't, it was not because I did not wish it Jane. I will tell you of everything in the morning. I have interrupted your sleep, and for that I am sorry."

She reached out fingertips to touch his face in turn, her eyes fluttering.

"I have been working every day to find the path you told me about." Jane's liquid looking eyes locked with his. "I looked up at the stars, searched them for clues, spoke to them like an idiot."

"I heard every word you said Jane." The feeling of her fingers on his skin was so distracting, when it came to building sentences, but looking into her eyes was easy.

"How?" The beautiful, curious confusion that was her look as a scientist enchanted him.

"Heimdall, the gatekeeper, he would watch Midgard, and listen to you for me, and ensure your safety for me. I went to him every night to hear of you. My greatest regret on those evenings was that I could not answer you. Not that I did not try to speak to you anyways. If that makes me an idiot as well, then I count myself in good company."

Jane leaned into him again and took a small kiss from his lips. A tender feather stroke and then let her head rest back on her pillow.

"I don't want to close my eyes, I don't want you to be gone when I wake up."

"Then let me hold you as you sleep, twine your fingers with mine, and I will not be able to leave your side." Her smile was like every one he had imagined as he had looked out over the sunsets of Asgard. Jane let her eyes close and reached for his hand, seeming to know exactly where it was. It was warm and strong, and it felt so safe to lace her fingers in his.

"Please don't be gone in the morning."

"I will be both your dream and your reality Jane. I promise you." He kissed her forehead and curled his head around hers, burying himself in her warmth, and the scent of her hair; clean like the outdoors and spicy like the sand of the deserts she worked.

He wanted to pull her closer to him, to completely enfold her in his arms, but a deeper desire and its physical manifestations made him hesitate. He was, after all, still a man. Thor had studied the stars, and he had studied the tales of war and warrior, he knew the realms and their place in the universe but he did not know the customs of Midgard, he did not know if it could be his place to seek the deeper intimacy he desired. Some worlds required time, ritual and ceremony to join lovers before the act, others politics and treaties. If he pulled her body to his she would feel his want of her, there was no mistaking it. She might pull away; he might lose his chance in ignorance of the game; for it was always a game. But to know his desires, she might recognize her own, and she might seek to touch him more deeply; and this was something he fondly wished. And so he abandoned his caution and edged his hips and chest to hers, the rod in his trousers firmly between them. He stifled his moan of pleasure at the much dreamed of contact and felt her tighten her fingers in his, she, pulling their laced hands closer to her breast, to nestle them between where he could feel the rise and fall of her chest, and when he closed his eyes, feel her imagined heartbeats. Thor allowed himself to sleep. The first truly peaceful night since he had left her all those months ago.

Thor was not immediately aware which one of them had woken first, all he was certain of was that she was still in his arms and his fingers were still her prisoners. He did not open his eyes immediately, but felt her body stirring against his. A moment of anxiety washed over him, but in his sleep his entire body had relaxed, and he was able to keep himself calm as he lifted his lids to look into her smiling eyes.

"Good morning."

"Morning."

"I am still here, as I promised you Jane."

She brought their hands to her mouth, kissing each of his fingers softly as she kept her eyes locked to his. He did not know what the look was meant to convey, though he hoped he understood.

"I'm glad."

"Let me make you some breakfast." She nodded but held his hand fast provoking a grin from him. He pulled their hands to his mouth, and just as she had done, he kissed each of her fingers, lingering with the velvet of his lips on her skin. Her whole body trembled.

"Very well." She released him. "I kept some clothes for you in the closet."

He rolled and then sat, Jane thought of reaching out for him again, but let him stand, unmolested. Images of old movies of chivalrous knights, wooing their ladies with chaste touches and romantic words crossed her mind, leaving her with a lazy, warm feeling in her heart. He still presented a very fine figure as he walked away from her, and Jane bit her knuckle to keep from making any kind of noise that he might misconstrue.

He retrieved the jeans and tee-shirt that had been left in a neat pile and changing quickly in the bathroom, he took his linen and leathers to the back of the house, where he hung them in the rising sunlight to clear the scents of the night.

Jane was a logical woman now that she had space, and it took Thor only moments to find the coffee and get it to brewing. The eggs and toast came next, then he began setting the table, not being at all cautious as to the noise he was making. A heavy thump on the stairs caused him to turn from the stove where he was cooking. A very bedraggled Darcy was coming down the steps, eyes half closed, a wrinkled sleep shirt covering most of her body.

"Jane? What the hell," Then she looked up to meet his wide smile. "Thor!"

He had not expected someone who was as hung over as Darcy appeared to be to move as fast as she did. In an instant she was across the expansive room and jumping into his arms.

"You're back!" She squealed.

Thor extricated himself from the grasp of the enthusiastic girl without losing grip on his spatula and set her back on the ground.

"Oh my god, does Jane know?"

"Oh, she most certainly does." Came the voice of the woman as she emerged from her room, now dressed in comfortable jeans and a crisp blue shirt, the top two buttons undone.

"When?" Darcy untangled her feet and sat herself at the table as Thor retrieved a coffee mug for her and filled it.

"Late last night."

Darcy looked from him to Jane and back again, grinning. Jane threw her a 'seriously' look, and went to get her own mug. Darcy returned that look with a 'well?' wide-eyed stare as Thor's back was turned. Before Jane could respond with an appropriately wrinkled forehead Thor came to the table with the frying pan of eggs and slid some onto each woman's plate. He returned with a plate of toast, and then a third plate and mug for himself, joining the women finally.

He had missed coffee, it had been an excellent drink the first time he had had it, at that little restaurant with Jane and Darcy and Eric, but it was even nicer the second time; perhaps because of the lightness in his heart just then. He had not forgotten the seriousness of his task, but the company was hard to ignore. He had a long drink, not as long as Darcy's, and he did not clutch his cup as hard as she did. This was something he needed to bring back to Asgard when he finally returned.

"So, not to be rude, but you've been gone quite awhile, what brings you back to Earth, Thor?" Darcy did not mince words; perhaps it was because she had seen her boss crying for him over too many nights; trying to hide it from her, and from Eric.

"Please understand Jane, Darcy, I would have returned sooner, but the Bifrost, the bridge I spoke to you about was destroyed in a battle with my brother. The All-Father has commissioned its repair, but such things take a great deal of time, far more than I have wished."

"So it's fixed now?" Jane almost kicked Darcy under the table, but for the fact that as happy as she was that he had returned, her heart still held a sliver of anger at his prolonged absence.

"It is not. But the All-Father showed me a path among the branches and roots of Yggdrasil and gave me a steed to guide me here."

"To what end Thor?" Jane still felt compelled to be kindly disposed to him, watching him as he drank his coffee, remembering how safe it had felt to lie in his arms, even better than the dreams.

"Loki is here."

"On Earth?"

"Here, in this city I believe, or rather Heimdall believes. There is an object here, in the possession of your SHIELD that he covets. And I have been sent to stop him from acquiring it."

"What kind of object?"

"It is called the Casket of Ancient Winters. It is hard to describe adequately. It looks like a chest, with an internal blue light that can be used by those who understand its secrets, to destroy realms. I have gazed upon it since I was a small boy. It was in the safe keeping of Asgard until Loki took it, hoping to destroy Jotunheim. It was lost when he was, when the bridge was destroyed."

"And SHIELD has it?"

"They do. And I must find it."


	6. Chapter 6

Thanks for your patience, I've had a few other commitments to get off my plate, namely some Secret Santa Fiction. But here we are, a bit of plot for Thor and his friends. I hope you enjoy.

Merick

Part 6

Agent Coulson thrived in most environments; he had been sent to every corner of the Earth by then, in rain, snow and desert heat, but his office in the SHIELD Field office in New Mexico had quickly become a favorite place. The staff he had working for him were efficient, and intelligent, and certainly required far less of the handling of a man like Tony Stark; not to say that he had been completely divorced from having to deal with the man. But the whole 'Thor' issue, as Nick Fury liked to call it, (Coulson preferred Desert Storm, but of course that name had different connotations,) had spawned a great many side projects that threatened to take on lives of their own if not for his oversight of them. For six months at least Agent Coulson had not found himself on the business end of any weapons, and while the prospect of death did not frighten him, he did not seek it out either. A respite was good once in awhile, and he knew that soon enough The Avengers Initiative would come calling him again; but he also knew it would be much better to have Thor back within their folds when it did.

That was why he had allowed himself to feel just a little bit of excitement when Jane Foster had called him that morning. They usually spoke weekly, as she gave her status reports, but the request for this meeting was unexpected, and boded well, as if she had made some type of significant discovery. Not to say that what she had accomplished thus far wasn't significant, but it wasn't what he and Fury were searching for. To have that portal back, to connect them with a potential wealth of other super beings who could be recruited to defend the Earth, well, that was significant.

To that point even Selvig's progress had been lack luster. In the beginning he had seemed to be making significant progress with the box, but of late he had been throwing out tidbits and recycled information with more frequency, and Coulson had begun to wonder if he had reached the ends of his abilities to understand whatever this latest artifact truly was. Selvig had called it a casket, and Agent Coulson, being the dedicated man that he was, had immediately had translations commissioned (by Stark's people), of any ancient Scandinavian document that even hinted at the word. Ten years prior he would have dismissed it as a fairytale, but a great many things had changed since then, and even though it seemed quite improbable that a glowing blue box could summon incapacitating snowstorms, he was willing to believe that it just might.

When his com buzzed he allowed himself a brief moment of anticipation, quickly quashed it, not that it had ever shown on his face in the first place and opened his office door remotely from his desk. The practiced expression did not waver as Jane walked in, even though he could easily see the bulk of the man who came in behind her; dressed as he had last seen him (somewhat cleaner mind you), in red cloak, and gleaming breast plate.

"Well it certainly is good to have you back Thor." He stood and held out his hand, first to Jane, and then to the Nordic god who took it with a positive strength that threatened to provoke a smile on the agent's face. "May I assume that you have made a breakthrough Miss Foster?"

"Sadly no, but at least I have a better understanding of why."

"Then how?" He sat back down, not letting disappointment distract him.

"I have been sent by my father Agent Coulson, he has seen a threat here in Midgard and I am here to prevent any harm coming to the good people of this realm." It annoyed him somewhat that Thor hadn't been completely forthcoming about his route, but he was prepared to listen.

"Really?" He leaned forward on his desk, not giving anything away.

"You are in possession of an artifact Agent Coulson, an artifact my brother is seeking."

"Loki is here on Earth?" He kept his measured tone.

"That is what we believe."

"So you aren't certain?"

Coulson waited out the pause that he could see stirring in the chest of the man.

"Loki is here and he is already in your midst Agent Coulson. I am here to retrieve that artifact before he can secure it for himself and use it against this world and others." Thor's tone became more serious than conversational, prompting a reaction.

Coulson knit his fingers together and rested his elbows on his desk; it was not in his training, or his nature to volunteer information, but to gather it.

"Your brother? The same individual who sent that automaton to try to kill you? Injuring a good many of my men in the process?"

"Yes."

"And what exactly is this artifact?"

"We call it the Casket of Ancient Winters."

So Selvig had offered something helpful. Coulson felt as if he was on a more even footing with his knowledge.

"And you believe SHIELD has this item?"

The sigh that time was quite audible; the frustration was becoming more obvious in the square jaw before him.

"I know that SHIELD has this item, and I know that you have Eric Selvig examining it."

Jane visibly stiffened at the mention of the name. She was not one for hiding her emotions; Coulson had seen that from the moment she had come to work for him, before that in fact. He didn't mind it, it was a tell he could use, just more information. Obviously Eric hadn't shared his assignment with her, which was good.

"And if we did have this item exactly what would you propose to do with it? Destroy it?"

"Return it to Asgard where it can be properly guarded against those who would use it for ill."

"Guarded as well as it was when it was stolen in the first place? Not saying that we have any such thing, but I think if we did that I would keep it here."

"If Loki was skilled enough to steal it away from Asgard do you not believe that it will be a simple matter to take it from you?"

"Unlike your people though Thor, no disrespect intended, we view everyone as suspect."

A smile curled on the corners of the man's mouth, and his eyes gleamed for just a moment.

"That may not be enough." He said serenely.

"And what exactly are you saying Thor?"

The man stood, pushing himself away from the desk, Jane followed, glancing quickly back and forth between the two men who were in each other's sights just then.

"I am saying that you should speak to your superiors and decide to release the Casket to me. I do not need your permission to take it, but I wish for no ill blood between us. I will watch for my brother and attempt to keep him away from it, but he has not earned his name as trickster because of childish games. I do advise you to consider what I have said. A man's word can only be trusted if he is in full control of his faculties. You would do best to remember that."

Then he walked from the room, Jane following.

Agent Coulson sat and pondered the words for a few moments, quickly deciding that while boasting was certainly a part of the man's culture, that lying was not. He stabbed down on his com button again.

"Get Selvig up here."

The box was an enigma, and it possessed his thoughts, sometimes to such a degree that Eric wondered if he was losing his mind. Sometimes it all just made perfect sense, and he reached out for it, and held it in front of his chest as if he knew exactly how to activate it and unleash its powers. And other times, like this morning, even the symbols on it seemed to taunt him, and the headaches were getting worse, to say nothing of the lost time. He had been assured by SHIELD that there was no radiation coming off the thing, several times, but he couldn't help but wonder what else was going on, and why he felt so wretched so often. The summons from Coulson was actually a relief when it came, and he was happy to seal the thing back up in its vault, designed by Stark Industries as so many of their tools seemed to be. They called the metal that had been used in it Adamantium, it wasn't on any periodic table that Eric remembered, but it was supposed to be indestructible, and locking it back in there each time he left the room was protocol, one that everyone in the place seemed quite insistent on following. He was happy to leave it behind and head back upstairs to daylight and less processed air, hoping it would relieve the headache.

"I have just had some interesting news Selvig."

"And what is that Agent Coulson?"

"Your friend Thor has returned."

"Has he?" The news made Eric's tired face light with joy. He had missed the soul, and had never stopped worrying for Jane, who had quite obviously given her whole heart to the man. The new project had been important, but it had meant leaving Jane to her own devices more than he cared to, though if the box was what he suspected, he needed to watch over it. And now it seemed, he would have some help.

"He tells me that there is a threat looming, his brother is here."

"Loki? Well that can't be a good thing."

"Tell me more about him."

"He is a devious man according to the myths, able to change shape and project an astral body to trick other beings. He can manipulate minds and is a powerful sorcerer. If Thor thinks he is here then we had best do whatever we can to help locate him."

"Do you think he would attempt to take the casket from us?"

"In a heartbeat." Eric paused for a moment, thinking over his own words, a sudden clarity coming to him, not that he intended to share it with the agent. "I would seriously consider increasing security."

"Would you now?"

"Or just give the box to Thor, I'm sure he'll know what to do with it."

"So you believe in its mythical powers Selvig?"

"With a god standing in front of me, I am apt to believe a great many things now Agent Coulson. I hope you won't mind if I take my leave of you, if Thor is here I want to go and see him, and check in on Jane."

Coulson nodded, he had expected as much. He had already arranged for the detail to follow Selvig. Thor's words had not gone unheard. If Loki was going to try to get at this casket, then who better to do it through then one of the researchers assigned to it. He had ordered a similar detail for all three of them. His next call was to Fury, and he was dialing the moment the door closed behind Selvig.

"Sir, we may have a problem."


	7. Chapter 7

Thank you all for your patience as I work through all my stories at this busy time of year. Here is a little chapter to whet your appetites for the conflict to come.

Merick

Part 7

"Are you angry?" Jane had started up her car, but hadn't pulled out of the lot immediately, the meeting had not gone how Thor had planned, and that was plain to see.

"I am not angry." He answered.

"Well your grip on the door handle seems to indicate otherwise." Thor looked down to see white knuckles and a fearsome grasp that threatened the vinyl covered plastic.

"Perhaps I am only frightened of your driving?" He added glibly.

"Now wait a minute, I've only hit you twice that I can recall, so you're safer in here with me." Jane had hoped to lighten the mood with her answer, but Thor, though he did smile, did not seem the least bit relieved.

"I am not angry, I am frustrated, and concerned."

"So what should we do about it?"

"I don't know yet Jane. I have warned Agent Coulson, and I must trust that he will put some type of extra security in place. Though how it will stop my brother I cannot imagine."

"It would have been easier if he had just given the thing to you eh?"

"It would have, but I must admit that I did not expect him to. That type of power, and he obviously knows what kind of power that is, is not easily given away, even by the most noble of men."

"Power corrupts?"

"Even the strongest of us sometimes." He sighed.

"So where do you want me to go Thor?"

"For now if we could return to your home, then I can make plans without distraction. And perhaps we could have some more coffee?"

"Of course, anything you need." The seriousness of the situation had not been lost on Jane, even though she had tried to play up his joke, and she was quite content to bring Thor back to hers, because then she could probably be of more help to him, and make use of her own computer set-up, and not the one that SHIELD was tapped into. She put the car in gear, backed out, turned and headed back to the highway.

Erik emerged from the building too late to see the contrail of dust that rose from the desert floor behind Jane's jeep. He walked, as if in a trance to his own sedan, unlocked it and fell heavily into the driver's seat. He understood the implications of what Agent Coulson had said exactly, Loki was on Earth, and Loki was certainly coming for the casket, and Loki had most likely already been near it using Erik's own hands and eyes. He shuddered violently at the thought. It explained so much. As hesitant as he was to believe that he had been possessed, he was pragmatic enough to consider the possibility. He also considered the option of simply starting his car and pointing it north, putting as much distance between himself and the SHIELD New Mexico enclave as he could. But of course that might raise even more questions, and he certainly couldn't run forever. Was it better to be labeled an unwilling traitor than a wiling spy? He wasn't certain if SHIELD even bothered with semantics.

So far the device was safe, and he was one hundred percent certain that no SHIELD agent would let him walk out of the building holding it, even if a god had possessed him. Of course they would probably just shoot him, which didn't sit so well with Erik either. The only hope, he thought, of any kind of pleasant outcome for himself, and possibly the planet involved speaking with Thor, and as much as he did not want to admit that he had been so weak minded as to allow another being to get into his head, honesty was going to be the best path. So he too started his car and headed out to Jane's rented house, rehearsing what he thought he might say to Jane and to the God of Thunder.

Jane had another pot of coffee brewing, and Thor was pacing around the main floor, stopping periodically to look at the dinning room table, still covered with her notes, at other times to look out the windows at the sunlight, and desert, and few indigenous plants that were in the yard of the house. There was so much stirring behind his eyes, and she was loath to interrupt his thought patterns, so she set a mug down for him on the table, and then sat herself down to watch him.

He was a beautiful figure as he paced back and forth, even with the look of consternation knitting his once soft facial figures into stern lines. His shoulders were set, his hands held behind his back, his chest rising and falling in a steady rhythm. As unprofessional as it was, she couldn't help but give off thinking about the problem at hand to just think about him. And as if he had finally felt her eyes on him he slowed his repetitive walk and turned back to her, seeing the second mug, and seeing her calmly, quietly waiting for him. A smile crossed his face and he joined her.

"Do you know what you are going to do?" She asked as he sat.

"I don't, not yet. It is not so simple a thing as preventing a stranger from doing evil. He is my brother. I do not wish to harm him, but I am afraid that given all this time for his anger to simmer that there may be little other recourse."

"I'm so sorry Thor."

"As am I Jane. I only wish to bring him home safely, for my mother and my father. I do not know if he will even listen to me. But I will try to persuade him."

"How will you find him?"

"He will come to the installation eventually, and so I will wait. Heimdall seemed to think that his actions were becoming accelerated. So hopefully it will not be a long wait. Not that I wish my time here in Midgard to be short." His blue eyes sparkled at her as he reached his hand across the table to grasp hers. "I wish I did not have this terrible duty to perform."

"Me too Thor."

"I regret every moment we have been apart Jane."

She felt her heart skip a beat.

"I spent many nights hoping that you would not blame me for my absence, that you would not move on without me."

"Thor." She whispered, feeling his hand clutch at hers even tighter. "I could never," her voice trailed away as he stood, and walked around the small table to her. She felt compelled to stand and face him. He was so much taller than her, and she had to tilt her head upwards to look into his face, now possessed by the same tenderness that she had seen as she had woken to him. He bent his face to her and she found herself closing her eyes, just before she felt his fingers brush under her chin and before he kissed her again.

His mouth was gently insistent as he parted her lips, and the curling blond of his mustache and beard was forced softly against her skin as he ground against her. She let herself melt into his body as her legs went weak, feeling his strong arms catch her up and hold her tightly against him. She hardly felt the strength to move her own arms to wrap him likewise, so enraptured was she by his embrace and intentions. Especially as his intentions became more persuasive with the pressure of his mouth and the dance of his tongue growing more powerful. She twisted her fingers into his long hair to keep him close to her, letting herself really go. Jane could feel her heart pounding in her chest.

They separated for a just a moment, to each draw breath, and her fingers moved to the hem of his shirt, intent on pulling it off his trunk, when the knock on the door came and she felt a horrible weight crash down on her chest. Even his arms seemed to tighten around her in a reluctance to let her go for a split second before he sighed very deeply and released her.

"I'm sorry." She whispered, as much for herself to hear as for him.

"You should see who it is."

"I don't want to walk away from you."

"Nor I you Jane, but perhaps it is just as well. I must deal with Loki first, before I allow myself this type of joy."

"I understand." She nodded, pulling back, straightening her own shirt, and drawing a long breath to steady herself. "But promise me that this will not be forever."

"I promise you Jane, I will hold you in my arms again. And I will," he paused. She waited without taking another breath for him to continue. "Show you the truth of my heart." And again she trembled.


	8. Chapter 8

Thank you for your patience in waiting for this next chapter, updates should be a bit more regular now that I have wrapped up a major project. Thank you to everyone who reviewed, I have answered as many as I could, but if I have forgotten anyone I apologize.

Merick

Part 8

Leaving the circle of his arms was the hardest thing Jane had forced upon herself in a great long time. Knowing what needed to be done, and actually doing it had never been a hard task for her, but just then she wanted to forget the world around them, the threat and the distress, and just feel him hold her, and feel his strong chest against her skin. His words made her quiver, to say nothing of the way his lips tasted on hers. She closed her eyes for a moment, committing it all to memory, and only then went to the door to see who had arrived. She opened it to a frazzled looking Erik Selvig.

"Is he here?" Erik had temporarily forgotten his manners, his drive over, prolonged as it had been by his introspective thoughts into how he could have been enchanted by Loki, had done nothing to comfort him, or ease the roiling in his gut.

"He is." She stepped aside, the serious nature of her friend startling her.

"Thor?" Erik stepped into the house and found the God of Thunder staring at the door, at him, his lips pursed in a serious, but sad fashion, and he began to doubt his resolve as he looked at the massive man, no less impressive without his armor.

"Erik, it is good to see you again my friend." Thor approached him with a genuine, if not small smile on his face, which unnerved Selvig even further. His hand was outstretched and hesitating for a moment longer than he should have, he stared at Thor before finally shaking it, snapping back into his right mind, and his resolve just then.

"We need to talk Thor, Jane." He whirled on his friend, suddenly sorry for his earlier lapse in properly greeting her, especially considering how long it had been since he had seen her. "It's important." He offered by way of apology.

"This has to do with the Casket doesn't it?" Jane surmised. It was easy to see the pain and stress in her old friend and it bothered her, the distance that had come between them.

"I am so sorry I couldn't speak to you about it earlier Jane. I hated not being able to tell you about it. But you know how SHIELD can be about these things." Jane nodded, watching her friend wring his hands in an uncharacteristic nervousness. "I've been studying it for months now, but recently things have changed. When Coulson told me about Loki I knew that I had to come find you, you both."

"Why don't you sit friend, and tell us what has you so troubled?" Thor gestured back to the kitchen table and Erik's eyes followed, his feet stumbling over each other in his obvious discomfort.

He sank down, his shoulders falling, his eyes cast down to the tabletop.

"I am so sorry." He repeated.

"Has the device been stolen?" Thor sat directly across from him, not meaning for their interaction to seem like an interrogation, but feeling suddenly at alert.

"No, no, I put it back in its safe myself, not an hour ago."

"But you are not the only one who works with the Casket are you friend?"

"I don't know, they never talk about things like that with me, we don't pass each other in the halls or anything, not that I would know if I did. I have my scheduled time, I go, I do my research and I prepare reports for Coulson."

"Then what is your concern?"

"I think Loki has gotten access to the Casket, through me." He dropped his head down, ashamed, and felt a gentle hand on his back.

"Erik, we know that you would never work with Loki, not knowingly."

"I wouldn't, I really wouldn't. But I think that he took control of me, to get access to the thing."

"But how do you know that?" Jane's eyes were soft with compassion for her friend.

"There have been times when I can't remember what I have done, there are headaches, dizziness. I thought it was radiation at first, but now, now it makes more sense."

"Loki?"

"Working through me, analyzing the security SHIELD has in place, examining the artifact." Erik spoke with a voice tainted with absolute misery. "I cannot believe that I could be so weak minded."

"But he has not been able to leave with it." Jane added, trying to make him feel better.

"Not yet." Thor's voice was deep and stern from its previous quiet.

"I won't go back there, I won't let him use me again. I'll resign before I am the cause of Loki getting that weapon."

"I appreciate that Erik. I truly do. Anything we can do to make this quest more difficult for my brother will buy me time, time to stop him, and time to convince him to leave it be."

"SHIELD will never let go of it, it's too powerful."

Thor nodded his head sadly, "I know, and I fear that the only way they will cede it back to Asgard is after it has been used against Midgard and its guardians."

"What is Loki's ultimate goal Thor?"

"Of that I can only guess. I imagine that it has to do with exacting some sort of revenge for the pain he feels in his heart, for the life he believes was stolen from him by our father."

"But what could Odin have done to him?"

"It is only what Loki perceives. He would have died but for the All Father rescuing him from the rubble of a frozen temple. He was raised as a prince of Asgard, as my brother, loved by his family."

"But he feels entitled to a throne?"

"Perhaps he simply feels entitled, entitled to wield some power, somehow, to prove his strength, mostly to himself, because I have never doubted him, father and mother have never doubted him."

"So what do we do?"

Thor sighed again.

"I need to go back to the installation, I need to watch over it, for when he does come to remove the device. He will come. And now that we are aware of him, and SHIELD is aware of him, he knows he will need to move."

"Will you know him if he comes in another form Thor?" Jane spoke; the scientist within her feeing a need to offer something practical just then.

"I will; he is my brother." He hung his head, "I can only pray that he listens to me."

"Erik, would you be willing to share any information with me, about the Casket. I know you aren't supposed to, but if I can learn a bit more about it, perhaps we can find a way to neutralize it?" Jane finally sat between the two men, looking seriously at Erik, hoping to share her strength.

"I will tell you everything I know, SHIELD be damned." Erik finally seemed to have a bit of a spark back in him. It was everything, Jane knew, to be useful, to be busy, to solve puzzles, it was the source of life. It had been the source of Jane's whole life, until Thor had arrived, and he had driven her even further in her pursuits.

A small smile grew on Thor's face as he watched his friends latch on to helping him in his quest, and warmth grew in his chest to see it. He clasped both of their hands at once, drawing their attention to him.

"Thank you, both of you, I know that we will prevail if we can only work together to noble purpose."

ooOOOoo

Agent Coulson sat back at his desk, Erik Selvig had gone straight to Jane Foster's home, and to Thor, just as he had suspected he would. He had not completely understood Thor's words, but his growing mistrust of the older scientist had played with that warning. He had set Stark's men onto researching the myths about Loki, but it had only been a few hours, and nothing had come back to him yet. The fact that Fury was on his way also bothered him, not because he believed that the man doubted his abilities but because his presence spoke to the true seriousness of their position suddenly. Barton was already on alert, patrolling as he did, with his team of snipers around the compound. He wondered if Fury would be bringing anyone else along? Stark perhaps? He wondered if things were that serious just yet.

The other two researchers assigned to the casket were Stark's men; Selvig's inclusion had been at his insistence. His knowledge of the myths was something Coulson considered just as important as the engineers and physicists that Fury sent. He had seen a god in his very office, who was he to say the rest of the stories were not just as real? He intended to send men to shadow Stark's men as well. A man's word can only be trusted if he is in full control of his faculties, the words echoed as he tapped nervously on his desk. What, or who was it that couldn't be trusted? He needed more information about Loki; that was obvious. He picked up his phone, to make another call but was stopped mid dialing by a commotion that set lights to blazing on his handset, and his normally measured pulse to double time.

ooOOOoo

"Stop where you are!" Came the command, barked by a marine whose grip on his Benelli M4 never wavered even as his target continued his slow pace down the hallway.

'Keep walking' the silent voice in the man's head commanded, and so he did, rectangular casket tucked underneath his left arm, eyes cast straight forward.

"I am telling you to stop moving right now!" The marine took one step backwards as the man continued to advance. It bothered him, somewhere in the very back of his mind, that the man wasn't following clear orders, and had broken protocol by removing the artifact from the secure room, but that small niggling bother was overridden by the instinct of his job, to keep that artifact right where it was supposed to be, by any means necessary.

"Stop now or I will shoot you!"

Loki was quite curious, looking at the scene through the eyes of the man he had commandeered, just how long it would take the marine to actually make good on his threat, or if he even would. It had been his experience that soldiers such as this one often had more bluster than balls when it came to issuing threats. He wondered if a superior would be needed on the scene to actually accomplish anything, and he wondered just how far he could get. The crack of the bullet almost startled him, even though he had been expecting it. For a split second he felt the pain searing through his right leg as the man fell, but just as quickly he pulled himself away from the body and the pain, and left the mortals to whatever they wished to do. He had made it nearly to the elevator, which was not far enough to accomplish anything substantial, so he scrapped the idea of simply possessing someone to remove the Casket and began to consider a second route. The screaming man that he left confused on the concrete floor of the underground bunker was of no concern to him, a sacrifice, not even a noble one, that had garnered information for him, no different than a lab rat or fruit fly in a test tube. Loki didn't even spare a sigh, or a moment to consider the loss before he moved his astral body out of the SHEILD enclave, and towards the sky, formulating his next attempt in his mind.


	9. Chapter 9

Happy New Year everyone.

As always, I do not own any of these characters, just the situation my little hamsters have put them in. Please read and review if you enjoy it.

Merick

Part 9

"God Damn it!" Coulson wanted to shout it out loud, but he didn't. He kept his composed game face on, even as he watched the now sedated scientist being carried away on a military green stretcher. The casket had been returned to its adamantium safe, he had seen to that first, not quite being so cruel as to step over the bleeding man on his way. He knew that all hell was about the rain down on the base, and he was not looking forward to it. Someone had tried to steal the casket, and Coulson was not entirely convinced that it was the SHIELD agent, even though he was the obvious suspect, having been shot down while trying to leave the building with it. Thor's words were beginning to make sense finally. The man, through his pain had been completely disoriented, more than the gunshot itself would explain. He had no idea how he had come to be at the base, no idea why he was in the bunker, no idea why he had been trying to move the casket. His denials of all explanations were not just lies, designed to save himself having been caught in the act of treason. He was genuinely confused, at least as far as Coulson could assess; like a sleepwalker. And if that were true, then Loki had likely gotten into him and Selvig's head as well, and there was no telling just what the god knew, and how he was going to use that information. The only exclamation the agent allowed himself was a quiet sigh, maybe more like a hiss as he followed the gurney out of the building to the waiting ambulance.

Once out in the ever-present New Mexico sunlight, the view didn't get any better.

Barton, equipped with his bow, gripped in his hand like a lifeline was staring at the God of Thunder, neither man seeming to blink or even breathe. Another sigh, and he stepped between the two.

"Gentlemen."

"I warned you." Thor's voice was low, without inflection, and directed at Agent Coulson.

"We haven't yet ascertained what has happened here today Thor."

"I can tell you exactly what has happened. Loki has tried to take the Casket from you."

"And he has not succeeded." Coulson kept his voice just as measured: a practiced skill.

"And yet you have an injured man and have not captured your enemy. The casket and this world remain vulnerable."

"For now we have some time, time to think about our next move." Coulson added, trying to retake control of the situation. Barton continued to glare at the bigger man. Coulson could see the tendons on his bow arm standing out against his skin, the tension written on them.

"I'll continue to patrol." Barton offered, still looking at Thor.

"I will keep watch as well."

Both ideas seemed like good ones to Coulson, and as the ambulance drove away, guards flanking it on motorcycles, he was happy enough to give over that external task to the men. He knew, despite whatever pissing contest they might have wanted to get into just then, that both were pledged to the service of the people of earth, whatever they called it personally, and he had enough to do in his office; to sort out the occurrence, and analyze any data that had arrived. Sometimes it was simpler to compartmentalize things, deal with them in manageable chunks, even though he knew that the whole would most certainly be greater than the sum of its parts in this case. One crisis at a time, probably the more accurate way to describe this task, he thought to himself just then. Those bulky men with their mystical weapons would protect access to the facility and he would do the rest as he waited for Fury and further orders. In the interim though, he was going to change all the access codes for the casket bunker, so none of the three scientists could get to the artifact for the time being. That would close one compartment. But Coulson knew it was only one of a list of objectives that threatened to get longer and longer each time he walked past the threshold of his office door, or his phone rang. He sighed again.

ooOOOoo

Thor had lost track of Barton, he had never meant to keep tabs on the man, and he suspected he had gone to high ground, he was a bow man, and arrows were not a close quarter weapon; though the bow itself looked formidable enough to do damage as a blunt force weapon irrespective of its projectiles. He held nothing against the man; in fact he had a respect for his single-mindedness. His anger had really been directed at Loki, but had been made manifest against Agent Coulson, and the others who represented SHIELD, because he knew how close Loki had come. And he was afraid that the next attempt would result in more than just one man with a bullet in his leg.

It was dark now, hours had passed and he had stood at the front entrance for all of them, holding Mjolnir, opening himself up to the universe, hoping to feel the presence of his brother, hoping that Loki would present himself to talk, calling out to him with his mind, asking for just such a thing. But the universe remained quiet. There had been some commotion earlier, a man named Nick Fury had arrived, tall, dressed in black fatigues, an eye patch over one eye, a serious look on a face that did not seem to know happiness, only duty. There was a kinship in that look. Coulson had greeted him, and they had gone inside, with only a sideways glance given to him, not that he cared. That had been hours ago, and since then a few more cars had left, but none had arrived. The sun had set, and he had tried to remain focused on the wait for Loki, but as the stars emerged his mind wandered to Jane, as it always had back at home. He had used the stars as a cue, like a line to speak with her, and the practice had not left him. Even though he was closer to her than he had been in months he felt even more alone, until a set of headlights split the night's cover. The dusty range rover pulled to a stop by the gate and his heart jumped as Jane stepped from the driver's door.

She lingered by it, seeming unsure of herself as she stared at him, her hands thrust into the pockets of her hooded sweatshirt. He took the steps towards her.

"Jane?" He was suddenly concerned that something had happened to her.

"Is it alright for me to be here Thor?" She looked around.

"We are alone."

"And Loki?"

"I have seen and felt nothing of him this whole day."

Her shoulders relaxed visibly, and she let a small smile grace her face. He mirrored her, understanding her hesitation.

"I was afraid to disturb you."

"Sváss," he reached out a hand to brush down her cheek, feeling her shudder at his slight touch, "I have missed you. Have I said that too often?"

"Not nearly enough." She closed her eyes and let her head turn into his palm.

"The stars came out and I remembered." She said, not finishing her sentence to him. "I needed to come."

"I understand, and I am glad that you did."

She drifted around the rear of the vehicle, clasping a hand on the three rung ladder that led to its roof.

"Did you want to watch the stars with me for awhile?"

"I would like that very much."

Both ascended and settled into cross-legged poses on the roof of the rover, nothing above them but the jewel speckled blackness. Jane cautiously leaned into him and he found that he liked the feeling very much.

"I'm sorry that you have to be out here like this. I would much rather that you were at home, safe with me."

"I fear no enemy or danger from this task Jane, but this is not what I had hoped to be doing this evening either." He responded, not indignantly, but with a graceful softness in his voice that caused her to tremble against him, something he felt even through his cloak and tunic.

"I had hoped, that as the night came to us that we would," he paused, looking into her face, knowing what he wanted to say but afraid of taking the step.

"That we would?" Her mouth looked so soft, her eyes so wide as she seemed to beg him for the last few words. He felt her hand caress the top of his, and he regretted that his skin was so rough and knotted there from the years of practice and battle with Mjolnir, its leathers carving their mark into his flesh. He took a deep breath and looked into those eyes.

"That we would have a soft place to lay our heads, and that we would have the peace of each other's arms. Not a dark New Mexico night, waiting for my brother to show his hand to us." Alone, the circumstances would not have bothered him. It was actually peaceful out there, waiting, even with his senses heightened to any trace of Loki. But with her so near, yet so damned far away from his full attentions it was agony. "I wish with all my heart right now that you could invite me back to your bed, and that I could say yes, because I want you so much Jane."

Her sharp indrawn breath would have set him at alarm for danger if he had not felt the same surprise at hearing the words tumble from his lips. She drew the truth of his heart out, as surely as he had professed he would show her.

"I want you too." She whispered back.

Not another breath was wasted as he pulled her body towards his, capturing her mouth with the pent up desires that had fueled him for months. He parted lips that had been waiting for his, and pulled a breath from her chest even as he sought out her tongue, needing that intimacy, feeling it to his very core. Hands tangled into her hair, keeping her from pulling away, not that she made any show of wishing it. Her own fingers ran across his shoulders, linking behind his neck, holding on to him as surely as he held on to her.

"The moment this duty is discharged, the moment I can place all my attention on you, I will make love to you Jane Foster." He whispered. "Minn Sváss."

"What does that mean Thor, I don't understand the language?"

"It means my Beloved." And he kissed her again.


	10. Chapter 10

A short interlude, prefacing big action to come. Hope you enjoy it.

Part 10

He wondered if he should wake her to see the sunrise, it was only moments off, he could tell by the growing rose hue that was beginning to peak over the desert horizon. They had talked for an hour or so, him apologizing periodically for remaining so quiet, though he had heard every word she had said; discussions about what Erik had told her, and her hypothesis on the workings of the Casket. Because SHIELD had not been able to activate the thing, for which Thor was grateful, there were only theories about how it could summon killing frosts; many of which involved tapping into another dimension, or even the cold of space itself. All unproven, and ideas Thor could not contribute to. It did as it did, that was fact, whatever the mystical source of it. It could kill and destroy, and had existed for centuries, that was enough for Thor to understand.

He nudged Jane gently and then kissed her forehead as she shook her head slowly to push the veil of sleep from her. She smiled at him, and turned her face to his to receive a second kiss, gently on her mouth, one that brought her back to her full mind in a blissful wave of awareness.

"The day is upon us Jane."

"Were you awake all night?"

"I was." He smiled, "And able to gaze on you all that time."

"And nothing else?"

"There was nothing else but the time to think."

She stirred a bit and moved her neck, shifting her shoulders against the stiffness of the night. The daylight grew around them, as if lifting some type of curtain on the play that was the world. Sounds began to emerge, scents of the day, and the winds that always seemed to blow around the desert. Everything was alive again.

"Perhaps you should make your way home again Jane? I do not know what this day will bring, but I would see you safe, away from here."

"But I want to help."

"You will help me best if I do not have to worry about your well-being." He stroked her cheek slowly.

"I understand." She let her eyes close again.

An incongruous sound broke the wakening of nature, footsteps on graveled ground, striding purposefully enough towards the rover that both turned to see their origin.

"Good Morning!" Came the call, barked more like an order than a greeting. Thor watched the man he had seen the previous day walk past the gates, still in his black uniform, looking as though he likely hadn't slept either; but more by the determination in the set of his jaw than anything else.

"Nick Fury. Can we talk?" He announced himself.

Thor leapt down from the top of the rover, Jane following on the ladder, both of them facing Fury.

"Have you come to offer me the Casket? So I may take it back to Asgard where it can be properly safeguarded?"

"No." The man kept his expression quite neutral even though Thor understood that he likely had a thousand scenarios running around in his head just then.

"Then we have little to talk about Nick Fury."

"Don't misunderstand me Thor, you and I both have the same interests."

"Perhaps we do, but that remains to be seen."

"What happened here yesterday is not going to happen again."

"I am certainly glad to hear that you will not be shooting any more of your staff members. But Loki will not halt his efforts."

"Well, we are suspending all access to the artifact until we can better assess this new threat."

"I don't know that that will be enough. You have seen very little of what my brother is capable of."

"For the time being we are quite comfortable that it will be. Especially with you out here, and our other friends inside or on the grounds."

"He can't just stay out here forever you know?" Jane's determined little bark had its own power and Fury looked right at her.

"Miss Foster is it? We have no intention of just waiting for a threat. Perhaps if your friend here was willing to give us the answers as to how the device works we could move our studies along at a better rate?"

Thor felt a shudder run the length of his spine, and he didn't think that it was just because he had been referred to in the third person while still standing there. No, something was afoot, and he believed that it was possibly his brother, but he made no announcement of his concerns to the others.

"I cannot activate the device for you if that is what you desire. It will not work in my hands any more successfully than it has for any of your scientists. I do not have the lineage of the Joten in my blood."

"And yet your brother can activate it. How very odd. How is that possible?" The sarcasm was thinly veiled, and the sanctimonious smile even more bothersome. "Interesting family dynamics in Asgard eh?"

Thor took a deep breath and exhaled slowly and deliberately, keeping himself in check. Crossing his arms.

"There was a time that a comment like that would have earned you a physical response Nick Fury. But such outbursts offer little productivity. As does your attempt to anger me and force me in a direction of your choosing. Your infantile technique insults us both."

At that, Fury began to laugh, and finally allowed a smile to grace his face, which drastically changed his features.

"A man with common sense, how refreshing. Are you sure there's nothing you can share with us about the artifact?"

"Nothing." Thor's arms remained laced across his chest. Mjolnir clasped firmly.

"Then I think the best next step is to move the thing off this base, to another one, where we have the ability to protect it with some new tech."

"Don't delude yourself that a change of venue will keep my brother from his goals."

"You might be surprised what we have available to us."

"Self confidence certainly being one of those things it seems."

Fury laughed again.

"Let me get some breakfast sent out for you Thor. A token of our appreciation then, for your candor and hard work."

ooOOoo

Move it? gods be damned, they couldn't move the Casket. This enclosure would be so simple to take it from, given just a little more time to plot the best point of egress. People tended to frown on their gods simply killing people at random. One or two could be explained, but if he were to win over the hearts of the populace, and bring their adulation and prayers to him, then simply leveling the place, and all those in it would be bad press. (A Midgard expression he had heard on the television). And he needed the good will of the people, to sway their heroes to joining his side in the ultimate battle to reclaim his stolen throne. He had heard more than enough innuendo about other bases, deep underground, and one even in the inhospitable environs of space. It would be like starting at square one again. No, this Nick Fury could not be permitted to move the Casket. It was time for action. And looking over at his brother, from his vantage point on the roof of the building, disguised in the heat eddies, seeing the way he touched the woman, and kept her just behind him and away from harm, gave him a very simple idea.


	11. Chapter 11

Part 11

Jane drove home slowly, watching in her rearview mirror as she left the SHIELD compound, and Thor. She hated driving away from him; she understood why he had to stay where he was, and why she had to go home, but it didn't make it easier to bear. A second night wrapped in his arms had been glorious, but she still wanted more. It was selfish, her rational mind prodded her, his duty was to protect the entire planet, but the deep down instinctual part of her wanted him for herself, wanted to take him to bed, remembered his words, and dreamed about how he would make love to her. It was not so distracting that she drove her car off the road, but enough that she felt even more miserable as she pulled into her driveway and shut it off.

A shower helped focus her, and a cup of coffee, and clean pair of comfortable jeans and tee shirt. Having Erik arrive at her door also helped, because work was an obsession above almost everything else in her life, (a week prior there would have been no qualification) and she knew she would dive into it with her whole heart. Erik settled in beside her, with his own cup of coffee and they began where they had left off the night previous, Erik bringing her the myths and his experiences; Jane trying to squeeze something empirical out of the nothingness. She knew, she assumed, that she was never going to be able to get near the Casket, and if it was, as Thor had said, genetically activated, it might never work on earth at all. But it didn't stop her curiosity, and Erik had spent the night going through some of his own books to find even more myths about how it had been used. What he discovered about its rumored powers sent a chill down Jane's spine. If Loki was to get his hands on it, the world as she knew it would change drastically, and not for the better.

She asked Erik questions as they came to her, in no particular order. Was the thing exothermic, endothermic? Did it have an EM field? Could it be opened? She scribbled all his answers into her moleskin first then into her personal laptop, the one she never linked to SHIELD, or checked email on, or anything identifying. She knew that one trip onto the net to check a known email or social network account could, and would be traced back to that system. She had programmed it herself, to run her data, and was extremely careful, and had password protected everything, just in case Darcy got the idea to 'borrow' it. Her roommate had been gone when she had returned home, not that that was unusual. She had likely made herself scarce, assuming that she and Thor would have wanted the privacy. Perhaps she had gone back to chasing Lawrence. She had talked about him a few times, about how he was built like a racer, and could really dance. It wouldn't have surprised Jane if Darcy had gone back to the bar to try to see him again. Either that, or she was staying with another friend. Whatever the case, Jane appreciated not having to explain everything to her. Erik was more at Jane's level and their ability to communicate with few, if any words, was comforting, and appreciated.

They took a break for lunch, and for both to stretch their backs from leaning over the table for so long, trying to find some kind of thread in the masses of papers. A knock at the door distracted them as they were about to get back into the mess and Jane went to see whom it was. She opened the door to a grinning Lawrence, standing solidly, hands held behind his back. She felt immediately uncomfortable and stepped back, away from him.

"Hello Jane." The voice sounded to her just as menacing as his appearance. Her gut rolled uncomfortably.

"Can I help you?" She asked with some hesitation.

"I sincerely hope so." And he brought both his hands into plain view as he stepped into her home, pointing the Sig Sauer directly at her chest.

"What are you doing?" She put both hands up in front of herself, her voice obviously strained, which prompted Erik to turn from the table, understanding that there was suddenly a problem.

"Who?" He began to ask before he was cut off by the visitor.

"Hello Erik. Headache today?" Loki didn't take his eyes off Jane even as he addressed Selvig.

"What do you want?" Jane repeated, feeling her heart beginning to pound in her chest. Not only did the man know her, but it seemed he knew Erik as well.

"It's time to put an end to all this nonsense. I need my property back, and you are going to help me." He motioned with the barrel of the gun for Jane to move over beside Erik and he followed, keeping his eyes on both of them.

"Your property?" Jane asked, but Erik already seemed to understand the man. The look in her old friend's eyes did nothing to calm her.

"My property." Loki replied slowly, shaking himself a little as he did.

"Loki." Erik whispered, provoking a sinister grin from the man Jane had known as Lawrence, and then a transparent shimmering as that mortal form disappeared, replaced by the raven-haired god himself, in his black and green leathers, gun still trained.

"You're Loki?" She asked, the smile softened a little.

"I am Miss Foster; God of Mischief, and other things, not quite at your service, perhaps the other way around. I hope you'll forgive me for the subterfuge. But I'm going to need your help now, to retrieve the Casket."

"You know SHIELD isn't just going to let you walk in there and take the thing? And you know your brother is there, waiting for you?"

"Of course, that is why you are going to go in there and get it for me." His tone of voice betrayed the superiority he obviously felt.

"They won't let me have it."

"Oh, I think they will. Especially with my brother there." The smugness would have been insulting, but for the weapon he still pointed at her.

"Why do you have a gun?"

"Well, it's not actually for me, it's for Erik here." And he walked to the man's side, placing a hand on his shoulder, clutching it with his long fingers so that Jane could see the fabric of Erik's suit jacket crinkle and indent at the pressure.

"I won't help you anymore Loki." More fear rose in Jane's heart to hear the stress in her friend's voice. She wondered if Loki's momentary distraction was enough for her to try to reach for the gun. But she didn't dare take the risk with Erik's life.

"Ah, but dear Erik, you really have no choice." Loki whispered into his ear, the ever-present grin making his face look so cruel.

It seemed like slow motion to Jane as she watched Loki, she had no idea if it was his magic, or the fear, or her scientific mind trying to take over, trying to understand what she was witnessing.

She watched as Loki stepped behind Erik, who seemed to freeze and stiffen as the long fingers embedded themselves into his shoulder. Loki's right hand, still holding the gun, slid down Erik's right arm, somehow forcing the gun into the older man's grip, and for just a moment Jane thought that Erik could simply throw it away then, and they could both run. But Erik didn't. In fact he gripped it tightly, his knuckles whitening around it, his arm rising to put Jane in the line of fire once again.

"Erik, no." She pleaded, seeing the man's face. His eyes were wide, his lips turned down, a horrible look of pure misery as he stared right at her, his control nearly lost.

"Jane." He tried to whisper, she could see the effort he put into moving his lips around the simple word. She felt the tears rising in her eyes, their stinging threatening the flow down her cheeks. Then Erik's eyes closed and she watched his body contort in a wholly unnatural fashion as the grinning figure that had been holding him up began to mesh into him. The fingers that had dug into his shoulder, and the ones at his wrist began to sink into the flesh they held, and Erik's mouth dropped open in a silent scream that still said everything as loud as if he had audibly cried out. Loki's entire body seemed to force itself into Erik's, her old friend suddenly taking on the countenance of the god, including the sinister smile that made her blood run even colder.

"Now we are going to go and get my property." He spoke with Erik's voice, but with none of the man she had known her entire life.

"They won't give it to you, no matter who you look like Loki." Jane found her hands trembling, and she crossed them over her chest, trying to steady herself.

"They will when I threaten to shoot you. Thor will see to that. Now move."

He waved the gun again towards the door and Jane did as he indicated.

"Just please don't hurt him."

ooOOoo

The sun had felt hot for those moments when Thor allowed himself to think of such mundane things. His mind had been more occupied with Nick Fury's words, and his plans to move the object offsite. Thor knew Loki had been nearby, knew he had to have heard the plans, and he feared for what his brother might do: because he couldn't get into his brother's head any longer. When they had been children Loki had always thought his evasive behavior was fooling everyone. But Thor had always understood what had motivated the boy, and he had always hoped that by including him in everything he did, that Loki would understand, and move past the jealousy he felt. But of course, back then neither of them had known that Loki was a child of the Joten. That knowledge had pushed Loki over the edge, literally and figuratively, and Thor didn't know if he could bring him back, not like when he was a child, when a ride and swim and a night under the stars could cure most anything.

The man who called himself Hawkeye had come back to talk, realizing finally that Thor wasn't a threat. Likely he'd been instructed to come to him as a peer, to see if he would reveal more information. He'd also been given a few tidbits of his own to drop, the source of the adamantium, who else used it, and the party line about how SHIELD simply wanted to understand the device so that they could defend against it. Thor did not begrudge him the task or the deception. Barton was good soldier, one Thor might have chosen for his own had the situation been different. One Thor feared he would likely have to work with sooner, rather than later, and one who would not be able to stand up to the power Loki could wield.

He had gone away empty handed for those who gave him orders. And Thor had turned back to watch the desert, to open himself up to feeling Loki's presence again. Now that Jane was safe he could reveal and confront his brother, and do what was necessary to stop him. So seeing the familiar rover coming towards the compound again made Thor uncomfortable, as much as it brought him the lightness of heart at seeing Jane again. But when it stopped, and she stepped out, Erik coming out the same door, she looking to the ground, he looking directly at Thor, any happy thoughts were washed away in agony and anger. Especially as the gun Erik was carrying was pressed to Jane's temple.

**Reviews are love**


	12. Chapter 12

Please enjoy, once again the disclaimer that these characters belong to Marvel Comics, and the ancient texts. I am simply taking them to my sandbox to play.

Merick

Part 12

"What is the meaning of this?" Thor roared; senses overwhelmed with the vision and the pounding in his head.

"You know what I want." The voice was initially calm, so incongruous with the situation.

"I cannot give it to you." And Thor matched it trying to force his own composure.

"You most certainly can." Then an added an edge of assumed superiority was brought to the tone.

"Let her go, we can talk, come to an understanding. You don't want to do this." Thor struggled against his instincts to rush at the pair, to use force, rather than reason to bring an end to the situation.

"How would you know what I do and don't want to do?" Thor could now hear the rage beginning to simmer. Loki had just as difficult a time controlling his emotions as Thor knew he did. "You assume you do, just like when we were children, that you knew what was best for me, everyone knew what was best for me. Well, you were wrong then, and you are dead wrong now, bring me the Casket!" And the emotions boiled over, Loki pushing the gun further into Jane's flesh, clutching her upper arm, earning himself a whimper of fear, and Thor the vision of the woman he loved, closing her eyes, bracing for the shot that would end her life.

"Why are you doing this Loki?" His hands were shaking with the suppressed rage.

"Because it is my birthright, because it is the key to restoring the things that have been taken from me."

"You would use it to destroy Jotenheim, and then Asgard?"

"I would use it destroy my enemies, your enemies, those who let me be taken, and never fought for me, and those who stole my whole life!"

"Odin rescued you."

"Odin stole me from my home, brainwashed me into believing I was his child, your brother, an Asgardian, all the while holding me as hostage against my people."

"That is not what he did Loki. You know that father loves you, and that mother loves you, and that you are my brother in every way that matters."

"How would you know what his motives were Thor? He lied to you as well. Did he tell you that your brother was a Joten foundling?"

"No." Thor conceded.

"What other lies has he told you, told us both?"

"This course of action will not help Loki."

"Why not? The people of this world are known for banding together to fight tyrants. I will help them to vanquish their enemies, and in turn they will stand by my side to claim my throne, they will be my army against the lies of the All-Father!"

"Please Loki, no."

"Get me what I want!"

Noises behind Thor betrayed the arrival of the SHIELD soldiers, likely fronted by Nick Fury and Agent Coulson. There were running footfalls and the multiple clicks of automatic weaponry.

"Stand down!" Thor commanded as he wheeled on the approaching force, Mjolnir clutched in his right hand, the cords under his skin bulging.

"Nobody fire without my command!" Nick Fury was striding through the group of assembled soldiers, his own sidearm still holstered. His look was nearly as serious as the one Thor had on his own face. "Nobody is going to do anything stupid here!"

"I'm glad someone has some common sense!" Loki called out, still in his guise as Erik.

"I presume I have the pleasure of speaking with your brother then Thor?" Fury asked.

"I do not know that I would call it a pleasure Fury, but yes, this is Loki." Fury stopped beside the god and looked over the situation, assessing it for whatever well-drilled contingency plans Thor assumed he had in place.

"Just bring me out the Casket and no one will get hurt."

"You know I can't do that." Fury addressed himself to Loki/Erik.

"Actually, I think you can do it Nick Fury. You and Agent Coulson are likely the only ones who can open that safe now."

"And if I don't?"

"I shoot her, your guards shoot Erik, at least two innocent people die and I walk in and take it anyways." Thor could see Jane's face pale even further, her eyes pleading with him to find some kind of solution as she trembled in Loki's grasp.

"You aren't giving me much to work with." Fury's voice was ever the negotiator, but he really had nothing to lose, not like Thor. Or perhaps it was better phrased as nothing to win.

"Give him the Casket Fury!" He roared, causing most of the people surrounding him to jump at the commanding tone. "Give it to him or I swear I will rip that entire adamantium safe out of the ground myself!" To make his point, he drove the butt of his hammer into the earth, causing a rumbling that threatened the very foundation of the installation. Guns were then turned on him.

"Stand down!" Fury bellowed again, looking at his men, then to Thor, then back to Agent Coulson. He did not seem resigned, but pragmatic. "Go and get it."

"I'm glad you've come to your senses." Loki loosened his grip on Jane just a little, and Thor could see her tense shoulders sink, and the tears beginning to run down her cheeks. His grip on Mjolnir became even tighter.

"There is still time to walk away from this Loki. I know a way home; we can both go now. Sleipnir will carry us. We will go to the All-Father together, as brothers, to demand an explanation. We will see Mother who cries for you each night Loki. She wishes for you to come home."

"My Mother is dead!" Loki spat back, seeming to be beyond all reasoning.

"Let her go!" Thor's patience was at an end with his brother.

"Here! Here it is!" Coulson had returned, carrying the artifact in his two hands, flanked by security agents, M4's at the ready.

"Bring it here!" Loki cried out.

"Only when I have your assurances that you will let those two people go!" Fury answered him.

"But of course, I am a man of my word, I have no desire to see them harmed."

"Let the girl go now, a sign of good faith!"

"As you wish." He spread his arms wide, finally taking the gun from Jane's head, whispering something in her ear before releasing her arm and stepping back from her as she ran at full speed into Thor's arms.

As much as he wanted to keep her there, enfolded at his chest, he urged her away, into the arms of another soldier so he could keep his eyes on his brother. He watched as the barrel of the sig sauer was newly pointed at Erik's chest. Coulson walked past him, almost all the way to Loki before he paused, and then set the Casket down on the earth, backing away.

"Finally!" Loki proclaimed with a peal of laughter that made even Thor's blood run cold. Then as he watched, Erik's body approached the box, stopping a foot from it, finally collapsing to the ground like a husk, shed by the being that was now truly exposed as his brother. Everyone was still as Loki bent to retrieve the Casket, which began to glow blue at his touch, imparting the same coloring to his face, making him look even more sinister. It pained Thor greatly to see his brother thus transformed, because the countenance held no trace of the boy he had grown up with; only the man who felt himself so wronged.

Loki stepped away from the fallen body, a grin on his face.

"You wanted to see how this works Nick Fury, Phil Coulson? Allow the son of Laufey to demonstrate!" He turned the face of the Casket into the abandoned rover, and almost instantly a beam of crackling blue light pulsed from it, encasing the vehicle in a layer of ice that shone like a pale sapphire in the New Mexico sun. Thor heard the bowstring before Loki did, so caught up was his brother in his own triumph. But the path of the arrow took too long for a god to miss, and Loki turned, roaring at the projectile, encasing it in ice before it could reach him. It fell uselessly to the ground, and then Loki looked to its source.

Hawkeye stood from his point on the rooftop, another arrow cocked. He knew his position had been given away, but he was not prepared to give up. Weapons fire began with its high-pitched cracks, to accompany the volley of arrows now flying at Loki. The raven-haired god screamed out his anger, and focused the force of the Casket at all the men. They scattered. And then Thor stepped forward.

"Enough!" He brought Mjolnir to bear within the stream refracting it into broken beamlets around himself as he advanced on Loki. "You will stop this now brother!"

Rage had taken him over; Thor could see it in the narrowed eyes that stared back at him. He knew what he would have to do, and it killed him to know it. Both brothers roared at each other as Thor leapt, swinging Mjolnir with all his force, contacting, and knocking his brother into the ground, his grip on the casket lost, his body crumpling as horrifically as Erik's had.

"No!" He screamed, not surprised at what had happened, but miserable none the less. He fell to his brother's body, torn and bleeding in the sand and grabbed him up, tears filling his eyes. "No Loki, no. Why did you make me do this?" Silence reigned in the desert as everyone watched Thor, excepting those who had gone to attend to a shaken Erik, who was trying to stand. Even Jane had held her ground, trembling, seeming completely at a loss as to what to do then until Thor buried his brother's senseless head against his chest, and then she began to walk, and finally run towards him; at least until the hoof beats and whirlwind of dust stopped her in her tracks. Stopped everyone in their tracks.

"My son!" The call was mighty. If she had thought that Thor's voice was deep and imperial, it was a shadow compared to the might of the man who sat astride the massive horse.

"Father!" Thor cried out, still cradling his brother close. The older god, for it had to be Odin Jane reasoned, leapt from the horse like a gymnast and went to his children. "I did not want to harm him." Thor's voice broke.

"You did what you had to do Thor, to uphold your vows, and to protect Midgard. I will take him home, the healers will see to him."

"But he is so poisoned against you, against all of Asgard?"

"It is nothing that love cannot overcome, love, and the truth I should have given him in the beginning." The older man rose and turned back to the crowd that was now watching them all.

"You are Jane Foster?" She nodded slowly, wiping the tear streaks from her face. Odin looked back at his son and smiled. "You have spoken the truth of her bravery and her beauty my son." He held a hand out to Jane. "Child, if you would do me the honor of bringing me the Casket please." He saw her hesitation and added swiftly, "it will not harm you, you have my promise."

Because the Casket lay between herself and the god she continued moving forward, but before she could reach it, there was an interruption from behind her.

"Excuse me, but the Casket is staying here." Nick Fury was a bold man to challenge the word of the All-Father, and that boldness had gotten him to the position he held, and would get him much farther. Though just then, Odin was having none of it. With his own roar the ground just beyond Jane trembled and the SHIELD agents held their ground. Jane bent and picked up the chest. She studied it for a moment, marveling in the carved designs that made up all its sides and its lid. It did not feel different to her as she had hypothesized it might only a few hours past, in her living room with Erik. She glanced over to see him, being helped to sit on the end gate of a truck where a medic was dabbing at a gash over his left eye. She took the box to Odin, and held it out for him.

"Thank you child." He reached out a hand, as if in benediction, and brushed it over her bowed head. "For everything you have done." He then mounted his horse, which Jane could now easily see had double the regular compliment of legs; but the sight did not surprise her. The fact was, she felt quite numb. Thor approached and helped to lift his brother's limp form into his father's arms, where he was held with such tenderness, that Jane, even in her state could not help but sob at seeing.

"I will come with you Father." Thor kept a hand on the taut withers of the beast.

"No my son, for now you must stay. Help and heal this world, and these people. Asgard will call for you again, once the Bifrost is restored, and we can have proper relations with our brothers here. But till then, remain as our emissary. Speak with the voice of Asgard, and do us all proud."

Thor stepped back from the horse, and bowed his own head, Jane came to stand beside him and he wrapped his arm around her, crushing her to his body again.

"Safe journey Father."

Odin simply nodded, half closing his eyes, and then guided his horse to once again thunder across the desert, raising his own whirlwind in the sand.


	13. Chapter 13

I hope you enjoy this next chapter, I appreciate everyone who has taken their time to read this. Thank you for the reviews, favs and alerts.

Merick

Part 13

Standing there in the desert Jane felt numb. She knew what was going on around her, but her mind had closed in on itself, or at least that was what it felt like. It was compartmentalizing everything she had to deal with, and doling out small bytes of brainpower at a frustratingly slow pace. Fury had wanted to debrief her about everything that had happened right then and there. She had heard him order a briefing room readied, but she had also heard two people speak against it: Agent Coulson, who had politely but firmly stated his objections, and Thor who had not been nearly so eloquent in his dismissal of the idea. Fury was persuaded when Jane herself was able to promise to come back the next day and answer any questions he might have, not that she was personally sure she could add much of anything, he'd witnessed as much as she had. It all seemed hollow just then and all she wanted to do was go home; but Fury insisted on keeping her rover, which still seemed more encased in ice than free of it just then. Thor had begun to offer to fly them both, but she suspected the idea had died on his lips looking at the haunted face she knew she could not stop projecting. They had settled on a staff car, a Humvee, driven by one of Coulson's best men. She had tried to make a mental note to thank the man who suddenly seemed more decent than she had considered before: but the thought swirled away as the car arrived.

She had seen Fury press something into Thor's hand, but her mind hadn't considered its nature particularly relevant at the time so she hadn't pursued sorting out what it was. Everything she heard around her sounded muffled, and she wondered if she wasn't going to faint.

Her mind did let her register that Erik was all right, even if he could not meet her eyes as he sat on a stretcher. He was going to the hospital to be checked out, just in case. She doubted that SHIELD was about to let him go without some kind of scan of his head; she could think that as she looked at him, and then that thought was gone too, as Thor grabbed up her hand and she felt herself pulled towards the vehicle. She heard Agent Coulson promising that a replacement for hers would be delivered by that evening, and she was sure she had nodded at him in some measure of acknowledgment and gratitude, but that was lost too. It was easier to simply let Thor lead her into the backseat of the vehicle, and to rest against his chest, and only then did she finally think about breathing again.

She felt his lips touch her head, and felt the brush of his blond hair cascade over her face, hiding her. It smelled clean, and crisp, if crisp could even be a smell, she tried to hold onto the thought as his fingers twined with hers sharing even more strength, it was something to focus on. She needed that something because she felt so scattered, and so close to the verge of panic, as much as her body was trying to trap it inside. She was trembling, and she knew it was obvious, because Thor pulled her even closer to himself, wrapping his arm over her shoulders, as if his strong grip could force the shaking to subside.

The ride was blissfully short, and without quite remembering it she found herself back at home, Thor opening the door that had never been locked; had that been her? She couldn't remember. She stood in the midst of the great room that was kitchen, living room and dining room all at once and crossed her arms tightly over her chest, looking at the table, and the papers, and then at the windows, uncovered, sunlight pouring in, and she began to cry, huge, terrible sobs that wracked her body and filled the quiet space with misery. He was at her side in a moment, pulling her into his body or she would have collapsed to the floor.

"No." She whispered, "No, it's too cold." She pressed her hands against the armored breastplate he still wore, and looked into his eyes, needing him to understand the only words her scrambled voice could find. He tore the leather straps from his sides and let the armor drop, clutching her to the warmth of his tunic, enclosing her in his arms, and again she could breathe.

For a moment there was nothing else and her shoulders slumped forward, and she felt his heartbeat in the ear pressed to his chest. The rhythm gave her the point she needed. And then there was the sound of feet pounding on the stairs and the squeal of Darcy, and her hands.

"Oh God, Jane, are you alright?" The girl looked positively beside herself, and the anxiety was obvious in the running utterances that fell from her excited mouth. "Erik called me, he told me what happened. I can't believe it. Are you okay? Oh my God what can I do to help?"

Stopping to take a breath she looked up at Thor, whose own expression was nearly as haunted as Jane's.

"I'll ah, I'll go get something for dinner. Yes, I'll make dinner. I'll go to the butcher's and get steaks, and the market for fresh veggies, and I'll get some wine." She squeezed Jane's hand, "a lot of wine, I'll get a lot of wine. You two don't worry about anything, I've got it covered." She hugged them both in her frenzy and then was gone, and the air seemed more still after the door shut and was bolted. Thor's arms held her harder.

"I can't be out here." She looked up into the blue eyes.

"Where?" He asked, quietly, never breaking her gaze.

"Come." She pulled away from his grasp and tugged him towards her bedroom. She needed to see the four walls around her, she needed the dark, she needed it to be close, and she needed the control. He followed, and she was thankful. Closing that door, she relaxed a little further. Her room was not large; she could see all of it from where she stood. There were no surprises, and nowhere anyone could possibly hide.

"I need this." She whispered to him, his expression was soft, as if he truly understood her cryptic sentences.

"Tell me what you need Minn Sváss." He stroked her hair very carefully.

"I need you." Her words were barely a breath, but he heard them.

"I am yours." He answered, just as softly, and then he stepped back, standing still, waiting for her.

All Jane could hear was the sound of both of them breathing, it was calm. She was finally able to think, away from the harsh clicks of firearms, and the pounding of boots, and clipped words. Even though everything she did was on instinct, her drive was re-establishing her control over her body and her environment, and finally, her heart.

She reached for him, taking up the fabric of his tunic, pulling it upwards and outwards, feeling his own hands, understanding her need, take it up and off his body, tossing it to the floor. She let her hands brush across the lines that defined each solid muscle, and he let her, not venturing to touch her at all, seeing the focus she had. She stepped away from him, only six inches or so, enough that she still felt the security of his presence. And she pulled off the white tee shirt, stained with the earth of the desert winds. She needed it to be away from her, and from him. It joined his somewhere on the floor. She returned for another embrace against his warm skin, and felt his hands just barely caress her back.

Feeling bolder, she stepped away again, and pushed herself out of jeans, kicking them away so that she stood before him in white cotton triangles. She could see his breath catch for just a moment, then a deeper one followed, but he did not move. She returned to him, and took a deep kiss from his mouth, forcing her tongue against his, like the first kiss. A shudder ran the length of her spine, and she felt the knot tighten in her chest. It emboldened her; finally feeling something, breaking through the numbness that had been compressing her for hours. Only then did she have the courage to let her fingers coax his trousers from his hips, hands dwelling on the solid muscle there, tracing the channels downwards in a V until the soft leather slipped to the ground and he kicked them away. She pulled herself to him, meeting his flesh, feeling him shudder against her. A warm wave reached for her, taking her toes, her knees, and her core, cresting her body then exiting through her fingertips and the top of her head, she had to close her eyes and breath through it, it felt as if she was coming back to life.

Jane guided him backwards, hands wrapped around the small of his back, towards her bed, and when the backs of his legs touched the blanket she had drawn up over it, he sat, letting his hands come to rest on her hips, eyes locked with hers. It seemed that he was asking her, without saying a word, what she wanted him to do next. And she knew, with clarity, exactly what that was. Pushing on his muscled shoulders, she told him that she wanted him to lay back, and he did it, swinging his legs up onto the blanket, watching her as she climbed up beside him and slung her right leg over him, resting herself lightly on his hips. She felt his entire body tremble as she let her weight rest down on him.

She leaned forward and kissed him again, letting her breasts brush against his chest. She captured his soft moan in her throat. But there was too much fabric between them, so she rocked backwards, stretched out her trunk, and wrapped her arms around her back to slowly undo the hooks of her bra, slipping it from her body, all the while watching his eyes which never left hers. Just that simple action on his part filled her with happiness. She leaned back down and kissed him on the lips, and then trailed down his neck, sliding her body over his, feeling him start again as her pelvis drew over his thickening member. Her tongue played in the hollow at the tip of his collarbone, then drew down his breast bone where, with her lips pressed against his skin, she could feel his breaths, and the shuddering fits and starts as she began to grind her hips against him. He arched against her, driving his fullness against the last scrap of cotton as she began to trace her tongue around his nipples, hands resting hard on his hipbones. She felt his hands touch her back for just a second, a lapse in his control, before he let them rest by his sides again.

With a deep breath she shimmied down his trunk again, her breasts pressed against the hard strength of his muscles, her mouth gracing every chiseled line until she reached the base of the V, and there she paused.

"Thank you," she whispered to him as her fingers painted down the V and her mouth followed right down the center, to kiss just at the base of his manhood. She heard the deep breath he took, and felt the muscles in his abdomen and pelvis tense suddenly. As she ran her lips along the shaft he moaned audibly, his mouth opened and his head fell back. It was all she needed.

Her hands firmly grasping his thighs she flicked her tongue over the swollen head and felt him jump. Then she plunged her mouth down over him, and heard the sheets rustle as he twined his fists into them, tensing and arching for her again. Her heart was racing, but it felt alive, and it felt honest, and she fed off of every pleasure that rolled off his body, taking him as deeply as she could, over and over, till her name spilled from his lips and his desires crested for her. Only then did pull her body fully atop his, locking her in his arms, and taking her mouth, as greedily as she took his.

"Thank you for understanding Thor."

He nodded slowly to her, a small smile making his whole face shine. She matched it, feeling the glow in her own system.

"I need to ask you one more thing."

"Anything." He stroked her hair, again without taking his eyes off hers.

"Make love to me the way you promised me you would."


	14. Chapter 14

Part 14

He had understood, not that he knew how, exactly what she had needed. For the better part of that day control had been taken from her; invaded the sanctity of her home, the comfort of her studies, the rock that was her relationship with Erik. She had been taken from her place of safety, made to drive, made to stand as a hostage with a gun to her head. Her peace of mind had been shattered, and she needed to reclaim it. He knew that he held a role in that, and he gave her everything he could, forcing back the guilt that it had been his own brother that had perpetrated the assault on her, and only because Loki knew how much Thor loved her. It was nothing to give his body to her; she already had his heart and his mind. And now that she had come back to herself, he was going to give her everything else.

Moving carefully, still looking into her beautiful eyes he rolled himself atop her, supporting himself on his strong palms. He leaned down to her and kissed her deeply, holding back the swell of passion that had re-energized him, lest things end too quickly. Her mouth met his as a willing participant in the dance, and he allowed himself to sink into the taste of her even as he ground his hips against hers, reveling in the shudders that ran the length of his spine as he felt her willing body under his.

Much as she had only moments earlier, he ran his mouth from her lips, across her jaw line, down her neck to where he could whisper to her, in the hushed tones of his intimacy.

"My Beloved."

Her gentle exhalation fueled him and he continued to let his mouth and his face drift down her skin, finally sitting himself just over her, hovering just out of reach on his lower legs, which let him bring his hands into play. Knowing her eyes were glued on him he brushed the tips of his thumbs over her lips, feeling the velvet softness of them, remembering how they had taken him. Thor watched the smile spread them, and then her tongue dart out to taste each digit, suckling them in a motion that forced him to close his eyes and deeply inhale to keep his focus on her.

Pulling them away he let his fingers caress the lateral swells of her breasts, and brought the still glistening pads to touch her nipples, rolling them around until they stood for him, and till the moans that slipped from her lips were entirely uncontrollable. Watching her face caused a swell of desire to grow in his gut and he had to bite his lower lip to keep from losing his tenuous hold. He wanted so desperately to be inside her, to feel their bodies together, finally. She arched her hips towards his, brushing him with the one scrap of fabric that still lay between them, the movement made him shudder and he drove his mouth down against the skin of her abdomen, even as his hands now clutched at her hips, wrapping around her tender flesh, his hair hiding the fire in his eyes and the blush of his cheeks.

Her hands reached around to hold him tightly against her body, and Thor swore he could hear Jane's heart beating like a rabbit's in his grasp.

"Please take these off." His fingers twined into the band at the top of her underwear, tugging at it carefully, "Or I am likely to tear them from your body with need of you." He heard her little gasp, and felt her fingers join his pushing them away. He reached his body up to kiss her again soundly, letting his hips brush hers finally, feeling the heat of her, and the way her muscles tensed at the feel of him.

"I will never harm you." He breathed into her ear, as much to focus his lusts as to reassure her. Then reaching down he grasped himself and stroked against her most intimate place, feeling the slick skin, feeling her tense even further, feeling the knot in his gut tighten. He did it again, just to hear her moan. Then, using a knee to coax her legs apart a little further he brought himself to her entrance, and pushed against her, feeling her at first hedge against him, and then relax as he entered her, in a slow, steady drive to bury himself to the hilt within. The next moan was his.

Thor felt Jane's arms tighten around his back, holding their chests and their hearts close as he began to rock against her, drawing himself away and sliding back within the walls that held him so tightly. Anticipation had brought him to life and the truth surpassed the control he desired as the warmth began to build in his gut, magnifying every motion, tipping him over the edge towards his climax. He closed his eyes, needing to feel her and nothing more. To watch her face, her quivering body, her parted lips would push him. And he wanted, needed the connection to last as long as he could manage; because he had dreamed it over and over for so many dark nights in Asgard. He began to grind against her, and felt her legs relax against him further, allowing him even deeper purchase. His name fell from her lips and he thrust into her harder, knowing that he could not resist her charms any longer. Her body tensed around his and he released himself into her, meeting the wave that began to roll through her with a roar.

ooOOoo

They could hear the sound of metal pans and utensils in the kitchen; it brought a smile to both their faces.

"She's trying so hard to be quiet." Jane whispered as she nestled into Thor's strong chest.

"Should we go out and relieve her of that task?"

"In a minute." She held onto him, closing her eyes. "I just want this peace and quiet for another second."

A pot clattered to the floor.

"And that would be it." Jane laughed and sat up. She felt better than she had in many hours and it wasn't nearly as hard to tear herself away from Thor's arms as it might have been before. He joined her laughter, and she watched him as he also sat up, and swung his legs out of the bed. He was so beautiful to her. She had imagined what he might look like, and she had not been disappointed. He retrieved his trousers, fumbling for something in one of the pockets as he fastened them low on his hips. He returned to the bed where Jane was just pulling her legs away from the warmth of the blanket. New Mexico was never all that cold, but there was a difference between the cozy warmth of a blanket shared with a lover and the ambient air.

"You should take this." He held out a gunmetal steel case, about the size of a smart phone.

"What is it?" She took it from him, turning it over in her hand to see a small screen and some depressions on the face, a simple 'A' inset on the back.

"Nick Fury gave it to me." Jane vaguely recalled watching that through the fog back at the SHIELD installation. "It is a communication device of some sorts."

"Oh?"

"Apparently I have been inducted into some type of organization called The Avengers." That explained the 'A' Jane thought to herself, not particularly imaginative. Thor sat beside her. "Apparently they will be able to call me to their service using this thing, and I will be able to summon them."

"But then you should keep it?" Jane was confused.

"No." He placed his hand over hers and wrapped her fingers around the warm metal firmly. "Should you ever find yourself in danger when I am not near, you may call on these others."

"Won't Fury be upset if he can't contact you?"

"If I am not with you then I am likely to be with one of these other Avengers. I shall ask his forgiveness later if it is required. You will keep it." His tone was quite set in this idea Jane thought, and the reason for it bothered her.

"Do you think Loki will be back?" A shiver ran through her body at the notion.

"I suppose I cannot guarantee that he will not be. But it will not be soon at any rate. He needs time to heal, and since the Casket is now safely ensconced in Asgard once again he would have little need to come here."

"Except revenge." She whispered.

"Loki is not a foolhardy man. He understands what he is up against here in Midgard, and not just from myself." He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and let her rest against him. He could not say to her that she did not have a valid concern, but he also knew that Odin would be keeping a careful watch on Loki, as would Sif, Fandral, Hogun, and Volstagg. While Odin might not yet fully comprehend the true power of the heroes of Midgard, he would, and the alliance that Thor would forge with them would benefit both worlds. Odin knew enough not to demonstrate any weakness, such as letting his younger son menace the population. It gave Thor some comfort.

ooOOoo

Darcy had lived up to her promise, and when Jane and Thor had emerged, dressed and tidied properly she had the table set and steaks ready to go on the grill. She handed the fork to Thor and sent him out to do the honors while she poured Jane a glass of wine and forced her to sit at the little kitchen table. She didn't ask any questions beyond a very quick, 'how are you feeling?' before launching into a description of the new vehicle that Agent Coulson had personally dropped off, (which she had thought about using for the shopping but didn't), and all the vegetables she had prepared and finally the nice boy at the liquor store who had helped load a case of wine into the back of her hatchback.

Dinner was spent catching up with Thor, whom Darcy had really not seen, and further pleasant small talk about everything except Loki and what had transpired. They were just clearing the table when Darcy's cell phone rang and she excused herself to answer it. She returned to find Jane running water to wash up.

"I'll take care of that Jane, please don't bother yourself with it." Darcy stepped up to the sink, holding her hand out for the scrub brush.

"But," she began to object.

"No buts, my treat, and then I have to go out for a bit, so you and Thor just go take a walk or throw out a blanket to watch the stars okay?" Jane could sense something of about her roommate, and not just that she was insisting on washing dishes.

"Who was on the phone?"

Darcy sighed deeply.

"Erik. I'm going to go see him tonight, he needs a ride form the hospital." Jane remembered that his car must still be around the back of her house.

"I should go with you."

"No, you shouldn't. Give it a bit more time Jane."

"Is he angry with me?"

"Just the opposite. He's so ashamed of what he did."

"But it wasn't his fault."

"It doesn't matter. He just needs time, and he thinks you do too. So give him another day to get over hating himself. I'm sure he'll really want to see you then." Darcy let one corner of her mouth curl up in an attempt at a placating smile.

"Darcy is right Jane." Thor's deep voice echoed the body language of the younger woman, who was trying to be sympathetic, but at the same time, trying to put space between herself and Jane, so leaving would be easier.

"But he's my friend."

"And Darcy will certainly tell him that, and that no one blames him for what transpired."

Darcy's head bobbed up and down.

"Come outside with me, as Darcy has suggested." He offered his hand and Jane took it though she did not step away from Darcy.

"Please tell Erik that I, that I want to see him soon, and that I miss him."

"Of course." Darcy's simple smile spoke everything that her heart, and Jane's were feeling at that moment, and a quick embrace between the women, with Thor presiding over it all sealed the covenant.

Outside was parked the new Jeep, not quite as spacious as her old rover, but certainly in better shape, and seemingly more reliable. Jane wondered to herself where Agent Coulson had procured it, seeing as there was no rental place in their little town. But, she supposed, he probably had it driven in from Albuquerque, or who knows, he had a great deal of power, that unassuming man. Thor had grabbed up a blanket off the porch chair and was spreading it out on the small lawn. As she watched him she felt a warm shiver. Not because he was beautiful, well maybe in part because he was beautiful, but because he was honest and attentive and perfect, and just what she needed right then. She sat herself down and felt him come behind her, wrapping his arms around her chest. She settled into him comfortably.

"Can I ask you a question Thor?" She turned her head around to look into his blue eyes; still visible in the security lights around the house and the fading daylight. "You may not have an answer."

"I will endeavor to find one for you Jane." He kissed the top of her head softly.

"What happens now?"

"To us?"

"Yes, to us. Are you going to be leaving, do you have to go work for SHIELD?"

"If you would prefer I went with them then that is what I will do. Though I had hoped you would wish me to stay here with you." She felt his hair brush her cheek as he nuzzled her.

"I do want you to stay here." She whispered, suddenly unsure of the line of questioning she had opened.

"Then I will stay."

"Here? In this house, with me?"

"In your bed if it is what you wish." He kissed her again. She giggled.

"I wish."

"I imagine that there will still be nights that we will have to spend apart, as you pursue your studies and I see to my role as ambassador for Asgard."

"And what will happen when the Bifrost is repaired?" His smile instantly comforted her disquiet.

"Then I will call Heimdal, and have him summon the whirlwinds, and I will take you to see my world, and I will make love to you amongst the peaks of the castle of my father as the sun sets and again as it rises if you will give me leave."

"That sounds wonderful." She settled against him again.

"And there will be a time I expect, when you will wish to take a leave from your work, and then I will build you a great house."

"A house?" Jane wrinkled her forehead, wondering what innuendo she had missed.

"For the children of course." His voice did not waver, but hers certainly did as she looked back at him, eyes wide, lips parted.

"Children?"

FIN

**Thank you for taking your time to read this little interlude. I hope it has brought you some smiles.**

**M.**


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